15 minute read
FESTIVE TREATS Local artisan
A Toast to Gourmet MARSHMALLOWS
This month we’re raising a toast – or rather a toasting fork – to Ollie and Joseph Brookes as the Lincoln duo celebrate their eighth anniversary, having founded The Naked Marshmallow Company back in 2014. Scarcely time to celebrate though, because their festive favourite is particularly sought-after at this time of year and so it’s back to work producing... 52,000,000 marshmallows a year!
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RAISE A TOAST – or rather a toasting fork –to one of Lincolnshire’s most successful young businesses this month as The Naked Marshmallow Company celebrates its eighth anniversary rebooting marshmallows with fresh innovation, and fresh appeal for its British audience.
“Things are really getting busy now, it’s very exciting,” says Lou Coulam from the company’s Sadler Court headquarters. Lou has been working with the company’s founders for four years now. So has the appeal of marshmallows worn off?
“No, we all still love them here, but what has surprised me is that they’re so popular all year round. There’s really no such thing as a quiet time of the year for us, but in the run up to the festive season we go from just busy to super busy!”
Back in 2014, the company’s founders Ollie and Joseph Brookes were looking to create a new business. Ollie was working for a local utilities provider and some time around Halloween, staff were all invited to contribute their own offering to a team buffet.
Ollie created some of his homemade marshmallows, and to say they went down a storm is an understatement.
The Naked Marshmallow Company was born and the rest is a short but sweet history, culminating in last year’s festive season when the company sold out of more than 16,500 advent calendars.
“We were acutely aware of how successful we were set to be over the Christmas period, and earlier this year we expanded into a couple of additional units to provide more storage space, more space for cooking, and so we could increase production to supply our new shop on Bailgate, which opened in August.”
“We love Lincoln’s Christmas Market and now we’ve a shop in Uphill Lincoln we can serve our hot chocolates with marshmallow fluff as well as iced chocolates, teas, coffee and pumpkin spiced lattés.”
The company also upgraded its commercial mixers from 30 litre to 60 litre machines. Its output now is in excess of 650,000kg of mix a year. We reckon that corresponds to over 52,000,000 individual marshmallows every year. “Marshmallows are really common in America, but less so here,” says Lou. “Ollie and Joseph’s theory as to why that was the case was that was because nobody was doing them really well. We felt that marshmallows were ready for a gourmet makeover and have been innovating with them every since.” At the heart of a marshmallow recipe is sugar and gelatine, which makes them appear deceptively simple to make. In fact, the science of getting them to heat up correctly and getting enough air into them is rather complicated. So much so, in fact, that Ollie and Joseph have discovered and devised a few trade secrets along the way. Quite aside from developing the marshmallows’ composition, the company also had to create compelling flavours, and created its first five flavours which still exist today as the company’s classic range: vanilla bean, strawberry, salted caramel, candy floss and chocolate orange. As well as producing the marshmallows themselves, Ollie and Joseph have created a range of burners with odourless, non-toxic fuel and plastic-free bamboo skewers which make toasting marshmallows safe and easy. They’ve also created dipping kits such as their chocolate orange and salted caramel sauces, and vegetarian editions of some of their most popular flavours. >>
Above: Naked Marshmallow Company Boozy Advent Calendar £20; Festive Marshmallow Toasting Gift Set £22; Festive Marshmallow flavours £5.75, Sack of Coal £8.95; S’mores £5.75.
>> Then, there’s the boozy flavours; raspberry and Prosecco, violet gin, passionfruit Martini and elderflower gin and the company’s vegetarian and vegan marshmallows. But for Christmas, we’ll direct you towards the company’s festive flavours; cookies and cream, honeycomb chocolate, cinnamon churro and mint choc chip. There’s a series of s’mores editions, too, with milk chocolate squares and luxury biscuits too, for creating the ultimate marshmallow treat.
“We have two really busy periods in the lead-up to Christmas,” says Lou. “We’ve designed and signed-off our products and packaging for the festive season by July, in the warm and sunny months when we really shouldn’t be thinking about winter at all.” “Production really increases in the autumn in order to fulfil all of our wholesale orders, and then as we get into November and December, we’re really busy with retail orders via our website.” “At this time of year, we’re embarking on eight ‘cooks’ a day, each comprising four mixer loads. That amounts to about 32 batches of marshmallows and we’ll soon be working 12-hour shifts. There are 10 of us in the team now, but that will nearly double as we head closer to Christmas. By the end of a busy day we’re all marshmallowed out!”
“Happily though our customers aren’t. Both younger customers and adults love the texture, the novelty and the flavour. Our anniversary comes around every November and by then we’re so busy that we barely have time to celebrate it, but Ollie and Joseph are really good at making sure it’s a fun, happy place to work as well as a busy one and we always mark the company’s anniversary somehow. We had a big cake last year… topped with marshmallows, obviously!” n
Find Out More: The Naked Marshmallow Company is based in Lincoln and its products are available by mail order with national delivery. To order, call 01522 701 630, see www.nakedmarshmallow.co.uk or visit the company’s shop on Lincoln’s Steep Hill.
TAKING the BISCUIT
The unbeatable, unmistakable and unequalled joy of gingerbread has kept baker Alastair Hawken busy since 2014. As Christmas draws near, now’s the perfect time to enjoy warming teatime treat!
IT’S SERENDIPITY that the world can enjoy gingerbread. The biscuit’s creation was, in fact, a happy accident. Back in 1740, Grantham baker William Eglestone was attempting to knock up a batch of Grantham Whetstone biscuits, made from frothed egg whites, sugar, flour and caraway seeds. Quite how he managed to deviate from the recipe with which he was presumably intimately acquainted, given his profession, is unclear. However, his substitution of ingredients yielded the biscuit we came to know as Grantham Gingerbread, and latterly, just gingerbread. It’s reckoned that Grantham Gingerbread is the oldest commercially traded biscuit and it continued to be produced in the town until the 1970s. By that time, of course, we were all used to shopping in supermarkets rather than local businesses, and so the small bakeries such as those producing Grantham Gingerbread were somewhat left behind. Alastair was bereft at the though of his favour teatime biscuit slowly disappearing from the shelves of local bakeries and so, in 2014, he decided to reboot the biscuit and bring it back for a whole new generation to enjoy. >>
>> “As you’d expect there were different variations of the recipe, so I set about determining what the original one would be.” Just eight years on, Alastair is hoping to be the first £100m gingerbread brand, and currently produces over 80,000 boxes each month.
His products include traditional Grantham Gingerbread biscuits, with their lovely buttery vanilla flavour, as well as festive versions such as Gingerbread Christmas Trees with orange and lemon peel and crystallised ginger, and Jinglebreads. Both of the latter are suitably festive in their appearance, ideal to hang on the tree or to enjoy over a mug of hot chocolate. They also make exceptional Christmas presents, especially for those ex-pats who used to live in Lincolnshire but have moved away. Speaking of gifts, Alastair is also providing Christmas gingerbread men from his website, as well as two gifting bundles; Three Wise Men and The Perfect Gingerbread Bundle, both promising to give your recipient a warming festive treat. “We’ve also added to the range in recent years with our Hawkens Gingernuts, which are a little more fiery, with extra ginger for some real warmth,” says Alastair. “I’ve a bit of a secret weapon when it comes to product development. My sons Joshua, Charlie and Ellis all help me in the kitchen when it comes to giving me their feedback on new shapes and flavours! Joshua actually came up with the name Jinglebreads, and I was so impressed, really taken aback!” “Christmas is a time for children, and a time for treats and a time for tradition, so to bring all three together in a product that’s so well received is a real pleasure.” “We’re always very busy in the run up to Christmas but hopefully when Santa comes down the chimney, there will be a gingerbread man or two left to leave him!” n
Find Out More: Hawkens Gingerbread is produced in Grantham and sold in farm shops as well as being available from the company’s own website at www.hawkensgingerbread.com.
SAN PIETRO
RESTAURANT • ROOMS
Christmas Set Menu 2022
STARTERS
- Celeriac veloute, sloe gin and cranberry compote, chestnut shavings (v) (GF/ V) - Bruschetta of salmon, cured and mousse, pickled cucumber, ricotta, lemon, pine - Black peppered venison, Mirto blueberries, foie gras espuma, toasted brioche - Carbon crumbed goats cheese, orange, beetroot and pomegranate salad, beetroot soda bread (GF/V)
MAIN COURSES
- Roast breast of pheasant, Brussel sprouts, chestnuts and prunes, potato fondant, parsnip puree, game jus, sloe gin gel (GF) (a turkey option is available for the dish subject to pre order) - Slow cooked blade of beef, crispy onions, cavolo nero puree, smoked potato mash, sticky beef jus, roast carrots, salsa verde (GF) - Fillet of halibut, crab arancini, buttered leeks, fennel crips, pernod and fennel herb velouté (+4) - Mushroom panzotti, Jerusalem artichoke puree, artichoke crisps, crispy kale, roast portobello mushroom, mushroom and truffle cream (v) - Fillet steak, sundried tomato, oyster mushroom and rosemary jus, roast rosemary and garlic potatoes, winter greens (+12) (GF)
DESSERTS
- Trio of seasonal cheese, fruit cake, celery, grapes, crackers - Mulled wine poached pear, almond frangipan, liquorice icecream - Vin santo jelly, Christmas pudding ice cream, brandy snap tuille, eggnog cream - Salted caramel and chocolate tart, roast peanuts, caramalised banana, banana sorbet
3 courses £36.95pp, 2 courses £29.95pp
11 High Street East, Scunthorpe, DN15 6UH 01724 277774
sanpietro.uk.com
In the KITCHEN
Few things are more satisfying than grazing on leftovers between Christmas and New Year? And this knockout recipe is simple to make, and great in the evening in front of the fire with a glass of wine and some festive TV!
BOXING DAY PICKLE PIE
Preparation Time: 30 minutes. Cooking Time: One hour. Serves: 6-8. 2 x sheets of pre-rolled shortcrust pastry • 1 x 320g jar Cottage Delight Perfect Party Pickle 8 slices of leftover Christmas ham • 300g cooked Christmas Turkey • 300g leftover pork stuffing (or 1 packet mix, made according to pack instructions) 250g mature cheddar, grated • 1 egg, whisked
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Grease and flour a deep, round 18cm, loose bottomed or springform pie tin. Line tin with one sheet of shortcrust pastry and spread across the base half a jar of pickle – our preferred pickle is Country Delights’ Perfect Party Pickle, if not for the flavour then simply for the allieration: see www.cottagedelight.co.uk. Fill with layers of ham, Perfect Party Pickle, turkey, stuffing and cheese, until the tin is full. Ensure you pack in the layers, pressing them into the pie as you go. Cut a lid, using the pie tin as a guide, place this on the top of the pie and crimp around the edges. Cut festive decorations out with the pastry off-cuts and arrange these on top of your pie. Glaze the top generously with egg wash and cut a hole in the top. Bake in the oven for an hour, (check and add tin foil over top if catching after 40 minutes) until golden brown. Allow to cool inside the tin and serve hot or cold for Boxing Day lunch. n
In the KITCHEN
A stunning Christmas dessert which makes the most of frozen winter berries, and the warming festive flavours of mulled wine!
MAGICAL MULLED WINE JAM TRIFLE
Preparation Time: 40 minutes. Chilling Time: Six hours. Serves Eight. (For the trifle) 1 x 340g jar Cottage Delight Magical Mulled Wine Jam • 2 oranges, peeled and sliced in halves 420g sponge swiss roll • 480ml custard • 360ml double cream, whipped to soft peaks 500ml mulled wine (ready-made or using recipe below) • 135g pack raspberry jelly Fresh/frozen berries and ground cinnamon, to decorate
To create the mulled wine jelly, warm the mulled wine gently and then dissolve in the jelly cubes. You could also make your own mulled wine (with 500ml wine, plus two bay leaves, star anise, a thinly-sliced orange, eight cloves, two tablespoons of sugar and two cinnamon sticks). Pour jelly mixture into a small rectangle or square baking tin, so it’s roughly an inch high. Leave it in the fridge to set, this could take up to three hours. To assemble, line the bottom of a trifle bowl with half of your cake slices. Press slices half way up along the sides of the bowl. Arrange halved orange slices around side of bowl, then arrange half of the jelly squares over the cake mixture. Pour over half of the custard and Spoon over half of the Magical Mulled Wine Jam (available at www.cottagedelight.co.uk) evenly. Repeat this to achieve multiple layers, then cover the top with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for at least 4-6 hours or even better, overnight. When you’re ready to serve, add whipped cream and fresh or frozen berries to decorate before dusting with cinnamon. n
A whisky advent calendar for the true connoisseur...
On the night before Christmas not a creature will stir after they’ve enjoyed their nightly dram! A pilgrimage across Scotland in whisky form with 24 rare and aged single cask and blended expressions from the five Scotch whisky regions will offer the perfect advent calendar treat for Whisky enthusiasts. Presented in the form of a cabinet, handmade in wood and finished in the same way as a traditional whisky cabinet. Each 50ml dram is bottled straight from the cask and represents an expression of some of the best whiskies Scotland has to offer from leading distilleries. n
£160 / 24 x 50ml / 42-50% ABV, www.harveynichols.com.
The Wine Cellar
Beer of the Month
Rosey Nosey, from Batemans in Wainfleet £16 x 8 bottle case 500ml each / 4.7% ABV
It wouldn’t be Christmas without our favourite seasonal ale, available by cask in your local pub, but also in bottles. Full-bodied, dark amber Christmas beer. Brewed with pale, crystal and chocolate malts and English Golding and Challenger hops, it’s bursting with a spicy aroma and rich, fruity sultana and raisin flavours. A real gift of a festive brew, and popular among Lincolnshire’s real ale connoisseurs. n Buy from brewery at www.bateman.co.uk
THIS MONTH WHAT ELSE COULD WE RECOMMEND BUT ONE OF THE BEST LOCAL ALES, AN ALCOHOL-FREE TREAT FOR THE ABSTEMIOUS AND A TRIO OF WINES TO GO WITH YOUR TURKEY Alcohol-free, locally made and delicious!
LET’S TALK TURKEY: Three excellent wines to accompany your Christmas lunch...
1. Pinot noir is a great match for turkey or goose, and this mature example is from the 2010 vintage of Pommard in burgundy. Full-bodied, tannic, with leather and blackcurrant. £39 / 75cl / 13.1% ABV.
2. At the opposite end of the scale, Australia’s Chardonnay is drier than your mother-in-law’s Christmas pudding, with creamy oak, buttery, vanilla flavours, and just a hint of lemon and grapefruit, too. £45 / 75cl / 13.5% ABV.
3. And finally, Reisling is a lovely sweet option more conventionally considered a dessert wine, but pairing nicely with turkey. It’s lighter in terms of its alcohol content, too. £29.99 / 75cl / 8.5% ABV. For designated driver or those who want to enjoy the festive season hangover-free, Belvoir Farms has the answer with a special festive edition of one of their premium drinks. This non-alcoholic Festive Fruit Juice Punch is made with a blend of cranberry, blackcurrant and orange juices with extracts of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg for a fruity winter warmer. Enjoy it cool, with lemonade, or warm it up and let the soothing winter scent radiate!
£2.95 / 75cl / 0% ABV, www.belvoirfarm.co.uk.
n Our featured wines are available from the best local independent wine merchants, supermarkets and online, prices are RRP and may vary from those stated.
