CakeFace Patisserie, Kilkenny
The cakes, pastries and desserts at CakeFace are a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds. Let yourself be tempted by the Passionate Tart, the Zesty Nutcracker and FIGure It Out. As you can guess from their names, the sweet creations at CakeFace are far from run-of-the-mill. Owners, Laura and Rory Gannon, are both pastry chefs. Having worked with some of the best pastry teams in France and London, the Gannons returned home with the aim of creating quirky and unusual cakes, pastries and desserts. Need something more substantial? There is also delicious savoury food on offer.
- CakeFace is located on the Medieval Mile between St Canice’s Cathedral and High Street
- CakeFace loves good bread too – sourdoughs, ale bread, spelt bread and more are supplied fresh from the best artisan bakers in the south east
- More at http://www.cakefacepastry.com/
With names like ‘Tango with Mango’, ‘FIGure it Out’ and ‘BanaMel’ it’s clear we’re not in apple tart land, and there’s a strong visual element to these exquisite creations: they look every bit as good as they taste, and they taste wow!'
― The McKennas' Guides
Truffle Fairy chocolatier, Thomastown
The truffle fairy is Mary Teehan, another producer who was inspired by world travel to come home and use her skills to produce out-of-the-ordinary confectionery – this time chocolates. Although best known for luscious truffles and chocolate fudge, the range has expanded to include chocolate bars and chocolate barks (bars covered with dried fruits and/or nuts), cakes and cookies. Most of the range has picked up serious awards, possibly because only the highest quality, locally sourced and organic ingredients are used.
It won’t surprise you to know that you can enjoy a range of hot chocolates at the Truffle Fairy shop and café as well as coffee and teas from around the world raw chocolate cake, gluten free and spelt baking and sweet or savoury spelt crepes.
- Truffle Fairy is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm
- Truffle Fairy products are stocked by selected speciality stores including Glasraí and Goodies, Gowran, Co Kilkenny
- More information and online shop at https://trufflefairy.ie/
There is indeed a touch of magic about chef Mary Teehan’s chocolate creations, and chocoholics visiting the Kilkenny area would do well to seek out both the chocolates themselves and the lovely Truffle Fairy Chocolate Café.
― Georgina Campbell
Cramers Grove luxury ice cream, sorbets and frozen yoghurts
With our growing preoccupation with food miles, it’s nice to know that this product is made from the milk and cream produced by Nigel and Carol Harper’s own dairy herd on the family farm just outside Kilkenny city. The ice cream is mixed in small batches, and no shortcuts are taken. The sorbets and frozen yoghurts are all free from artificial nasties but packed with real fruit.
- You can buy tubs of Cramers Grove products at selected stores including Eurospar, Newpark Shopping Centre, Kilkenny and the Little Green Grocer, High Street, Kilkenny
- Find it on the menu at Royal Spice, the Club House Hotel and the Pembroke Hotel, all in Kilkenny city and at The Truffle Fairy Café in Thomastown
- More at http://www.cramersgrove.com/index.html
If you like your ice-cream luxurious then you need to try Cramers Grove.
Bob and Joan’s Juicy Jams
We love our jams in Ireland! Bob and Joan, a husband and wife team with a passion for preserving, are producing top-quality fruit-rich jams in really unusual flavours. Try fig and orange marmalade or red berry and rosé from the wine jams range. They grow and harvest a lot of their own fruit and collect and freeze all the wild berries used in the jams.
This is a very hands-on business. From their home in Thomastown Bob and Joan do everything! They create the recipes, make the jams, jellies and chutneys, bottle them, label the jars and do the deliveries and marketing! Both fine art painters, they even drew the pen drawings for the jar labels.
- Bob and Joan’s Juicy Jams are available in selected Supervalu supermarkets nationwide
Mileeven Honey
This is another family affair, this time a mother and daughter team. Eilis Gough took up bee-keeping as a hobby in the late 80s. Fast forward 30 years and two hives have become over 100. Mileeven honey is today one of the leading honey suppliers in Ireland and abroad with a dizzying array of awards to its name. The range includes Manuka honey, organic honey, pure honey and lavender honey. Always positioned as premium honey, Milleeven is stocked by Harrods in the UK and Dean & Deluca in the US.
Eilis’s daughter Sarah has joined the business and has introduced a range of honeys with added fruit, nut or spice. Look out for Pure Honey with Ginger, Lemon, Orange and Cinnamon and Acacia Honey with Sour Cherries, Walnuts, Blueberries and Mixed Berries.
- Read the Milleeven story on http://www.mileeven.com/
- Find it in selected Supervalu supermarkets in Ireland
