In recent weeks, Limerick’s epicurean prowess was recognised again when Adare Farm scooped gold and silver at the National Ice cream awards.
The Co. Limerick dairy-farm-turned-premium-ice-cream-business is honoured with a gold award for its tempting Honeycomb Ice Cream and a silver award for the brand’s limited edition Caramelised Pop Corn Ice Cream.
The popular Co. Limerick ice cream brand ‘scooped’ the top prize in the prestigious ‘Open Class’ at the inaugural Irish Ice Cream Alliance Awards.
Located just outside the picturesque heritage town of Adare in County Limerick, Adare Farm has been steadily gaining word-of-mouth acclaim for its premium range of unique dairy products.
Pasteurised but non-homogenised, Adare Farm dairy produce offers a traditionally creamy texture – pasteurisation guarantees the highest standards of food safety; non-homogenisation ensures a rich smoothness and a dreamy nostalgic taste.
Dairy farmer and managing director of Adare Farm, Tommy Relihan, says it’s a significant endorsement of the SME’s quality, standards and ‘foodie’ credentials.
“We believe that non-homogenised dairy produce always tastes better. So, while we pasteurise our milk to guarantee the very highest standards of food safety, we don’t homogenise”, explains Tommy.
“Many of our customers tell us that there’s a huge difference between ice cream produced by some of the bigger brands and the delicious taste of our traditional Irish farmhouse product. The result of our traditional dairy processing techniques is a country-style dairy produce that many of us remember from our childhoods – it’s the kind of dairy produce that would have been the norm before Irish farming became more reliant on bulk processing technology.
You will find many of the Adare Farm foods in over 20 retail outlets in the region and they have their shop operating in the Milk Market bringing you a taste of county Limerick’s finest. Be sure to get your hands on some of his award winning fare and here’s a hat tip to Tommy with my recipe for you to try.
Spiced chocolate and lemon rind ice cream
DON’T be worried or put off by the inclusion of the word spiced in the title as it’s more for effect than punch. But trust in me, I hope not to lead you astray.
WHAT YOU NEED
500 ml double cream
21g unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
140g dark chocolate (60% or more)
250ml milk
150g sugar
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
100g of candied lemon peel
WHAT TO DO
Warm 250ml of the cream and add the coca powder and be sure to whisk it well to blend the powder in. Bring it to the boil and immediately reduce it to a simmer for one minute.
Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until the mix is smooth. Add in the other half of the cream.
Pour the contents into a bowl and scrap down the sides.
In the same pan, warm the milk, sugar and salt and in a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks.
Slowly pour the milk over the eggs but be sure to whisk continually.
Put the mix back on the heat and constantly keep the mixture moving and stir until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon.
Place a sieve over the bowl with the cream and chocolate mixture and strain in the milk and egg custard. Stir in the vanilla extract, the cayenne and the lemon peel and cool the mixture over a cold water and ice bath.
Chill it in the fridge and then place in the ice cream maker or the freezer. If you do place it in the freezer, during the first two to three hours of freezing be sure to stir the mix as this will remove the possibility of ice crystals forming.
This mix will also work if you substitute the pepper and lemon for mint or liqueurs.
