Pass on pistachio and say no to strawberry; a Georgian favourite ice cream flavour has been re-created by English Heritage, the charity has announced as it serves soft scoops of brown bread ice cream at historic sites across the country including Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.
Created in partnership with family ice cream makers, Marshfield Farm, the new flavour is inspired by the Georgian obsession with ‘icy cream’, which included bizarre flavours such as cucumber, pineapple and parmesan.
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, however these appeared at ice cream parlours and confectionary shops alongside more unusual flavours including pineapple, jasmine, artichoke, rosewater, cucumber, orange-blossom, brown bread and even parmesan.
There was so much demand for cold treats in the Georgian period that wealthy homeowners built ice houses on their estates, including Queen Victoria at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Ice was ‘farmed’ in and stored under straw and bark in ice houses, until the summer, when it was used for cooling drinks, making water ices and ‘icy cream’ or ‘iced-cream’. The ice was generally of such a poor quality that it was never actually put in food, it was only ever used to chill and freeze food and drinks.
English Heritage challenged Marshfield Farm, the award-winning ice cream manufacturer, to resurrect a popular Georgian flavour and give visitors to its historic sites a taste of the past. After taste testing a variety of weird and wonderful Georgian flavours, including marmalade, black tea and pineapple, it was unanimously agreed that brown bread was the tastiest – with flavours 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!”
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!”
The export of ice cut from the surfaces of lakes in the USA, Scandinavia, and later Germany was big business until the invention of refrigerators. Ice was often transported from the USA to England and then stored in ice houses. Stored correctly it could last all summer.
The flavour is slightly malty from the brown bread but mainly from the brown sugar with which it is topped before toasting/caramelising.
Delicious – been a household speciality here for decades!