Brown bread ice cream will be served at English Heritage sites this summer as the Georgian favourite makes a comeback. The new sweet treat is inspired by the 18th Century obsession with 'icy cream’ - which included unusual flavours such as cucumber, pineapple and parmesan.
English Heritage challenged award-winning ice cream manufacturer Marshfield Farm to resurrect a popular Georgian flavour and give visitors a taste of the past. A variety of weird and wonderful Georgian flavours were taste tested, including marmalade and black tea.
It was unanimously agreed that brown bread was the tastiest and it will now be on sale at 13 sites over the summer months. The flavour is said to be reminiscent of biscotti or nougat.
Louise Cooling, curator at English Heritage, said: “The Georgians certainly had a taste for the unusual, and this summer English Heritage have decided to indulge in that fact! Although parmesan and cucumber thankfully didn’t make the cut for our Georgian ice-cream, we hope our traditional but new flavour will make visitors feel like they’ve stepped back in time when they enjoy a taste of our delicious concoction – though I imagine brown bread flavoured ice cream might not be for everyone!"
Despite freezers not becoming a household staple until the 20th century, ice cream enjoyed a hey-day during the 1700s. Some of today’s favourite ice cream staples – such as chocolate and pistachio – were enjoyed during the Georgian period, sold alongside more unusual flavours including jasmine, brown bread, artichoke, rosewater and orange blossom.
Dawn Hawking, Owner of Marshfield Farm, said: “We were super excited to work with English Heritage on such an unusual project. We love to be creative with our flavours and take inspiration from many different places, so why not from history?
"Brown bread ice cream is proving a divisive flavour, it’s a real ‘love it or hate it’, but we’re hoping it will get people talking and trying new flavours both from past and present!”
Making ice cream before freezers involved a piece of equipment called a sorbetiere. Usually made of pewter, the vessel was nestled into a wooden bucket containing a mixture of ice and salt, with the ice cream mix then poured inside.
The technique of adding salt to the ice surrounding sorbetiere allowed mixtures to be frozen solid. Once the ice-cream mixture was poured into the sorbetiere, it was agitated using the handle, or a flat spoon, known as a spaddle.
Georgian Brown Bread ice cream is available at the following English Heritage sites:
- Stonehenge, Wiltshire
- Osborne, Isle of Wight
- Audley End House and Gardens, Essex
- Scarborough Castle, North Yorkshire
- Brodsworth Hall and Gardens, South Yorkshire
- Witley Court and Gardens, Worcestershire
- Tintagel Castle, Cornwall
- Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden, Warwickshire
- Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens, Northumberland
- Dover Castle, Kent
- Wrest Park, Bedfordshire
- Kenwood, London
- Pendennis Castle, Cornwall (from July)
