The Perfect Scoop
This autumn I teamed up with local ceramicist Carla Murdoch to create the perfect ice cream bowl. (Well, we think so anyway!)
Carla makes beautiful and precisely crafted pottery by hand in her Stocksbridge garden studio. Her work is focussed on the tactility and utility of the pieces she makes, resulting in simple, classic forms in timeless natural tones.
We tested a range of forms (with ice cream, of course) to land on the perfect design based on aesthetic and user experience. As I learned from Carla, it’s all in the rim and having a great spoon-curve!
Thrown on the potter's wheel using stoneware clay, the bowl is finished in Carla's signature 'lichen' smooth satin glaze. The base is stamped with Fennell’s signature ‘F’.
Designed to hold a single scoop, these bowls also work brilliantly for snacks, dips, jewellery, or a small pillar candle.
There are only a limited number available. Get yours now (or as a gift for your ice-cream-lover!)
Ice Cream & Beer Pairings
Ice cream and beer pairing menu to celebrate Hop Hideout’s 12th and Leah’s Yard’s 1st birthdays.
Honest Toil: Extra Virgin / Extra Sweet
Olive oil ice cream was one of the first flavours I made. Each variety of oil has its own characteristics with both arbequina and koroneiki varieties translating brilliantly into desserts. With tried-and-tested recipes already in my back pocket, Honest Toil invited me to be part of their Extra Virgin / Extra Sweet series alongside some truly fantastic chefs and bakers.
Olive oil ice cream is the perfect alternative to a vanilla—it’s flavour is similar to white chocolate with hints of sweet grassiness, citrus, and subtle spice. It’s great on its own, or as an accompaniment to any dessert.
Makes 1 litre:
600ml whole milk
180ml double cream
2 tbsp golden syrup
Pinch sea salt
150g granulated sugar
20g skimmed milk powder
3 tbsp Honest Toil Olive Oil
Gently warm the milk, double cream and golden syrup together in a pan with a pinch of sea salt.
Mix the sugar and milk powder until fully combined*. Whisk the sugar mixture into the warm milk (when around 40°c). Continue to heat whilst stirring until steaming hot (82° – but don’t allow to boil).
Place the pan in an ice bath to cool the mixture. When fully cooled, place in the fridge to rest overnight (or at least 4 hours).
The next day add olive oil and blend until fully combined, strain through a sieve to make sure it’s extra smooth.
Churn in an ice cream machine following manufacturers instructions until the consistency of soft-serve ice cream or thickly whipped cream (around 25 minutes).
Transfer to a freezer-proof container, cover with baking paper to prevent ice crystals forming on the top, and place in the freezer overnight for a harder set. Allow to soften for 5–10 minutes before scooping. Or enjoy straight from the ice cream machine if you can’t wait!
Serving suggestion: Simply enjoy on its own or with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. Or with a slice of fresh lemon tart!
*Optional: add 2g locust bean gum to the sugar / milk powder mixture to help prevent ice crystals for a smoother finish.
Egton Bridge Old Gooseberry Show
Each year on the first Tuesday of August, Egton Bridge Gooseberry Society host their annual show — the longest running gooseberry show in the country which was first established in 1800. This is a show all about tradition, and most importantly size (not taste). These are hefty fruits with the appearance of a mini-melon and around the size of a plum.
The show provided a glorious display of the member’s fruits with the winning berries displayed on plinths. We learned about the long history of the society and how there were once many across both the country and the world.
I won’t attempt to recall the rules and scoring structure but you can find out more from the society.
The 224th show (2025) was not a record-breaking year with 2019’s 64.83 gram gooseberry retaining it’s title!
The inside scoop: where to get Sheffield’s best ice cream
Over the moon to have been featured as one of Sheffield’s best ice cream makers by The Tribune. Extract reproduced with kind permission of The Tribune, read the full article here.
By Holly Williams • 29 July 2025
Fennell’s founder Richard started making unusual flavoured small-batch ice cream in his Park Hill home, with the aim of “making ice cream exciting again”. They can now be found at Bon and Mesters’ Market in Leah’s Yard (where I’m told sales went bananas when they went viral on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform) and at events across the city.
I catch them at Sheffield Wine Week festival, where I’m too full of wine and cheese to have more than a single scoop: the couldn’t-be-summerier fig leaf and blackberry. I love the toasty, coconutty flavour of fig leaves, which gives the ice cream a lovely pale green colour. There’s a gentle fruitiness from the blackberry, and it has a quite solid, classic ice cream texture. My other half, Tommo, opts for candied lemon peel and olive oil, which is an instant winner: the olive oil isn’t too savoury but brings a “lovely grassiness”, he says, with the sharp chewy candied peel adding welcome bite.
Fennell’s stall. Image: Holly Williams
A few weeks later, we pick up a couple of mini-pots from Mesters’ Market. I try the orange blossom caramel, which is a stunner. I know floral flavours can be divisive, but I love a Parma Violet, or rose Turkish Delight – and the orange blossom here is heavenly, beautifully delicate, and the ice cream has a particularly smooth texture. A raspberry and thyme sorbet has a proper lipsmacking sourness, and a surprisingly soft moussey texture, although it’s also a little bit ice crystally. The thyme flavour was too subtle for me, although Tommo claimed it really added something. (I suspect he’s trying to usurp me as taster-in-chief.)
Best scoop: The orange blossom caramel just pips it – 10/10
Price paid: £4 for a scoop
Novelty factor: Good luck finding a non-novel Fennell’s flavour – 10/10
Best served with: Your pretentious lover who can identify subtle tasting notes
Flavours from Norway
Two years ago Jake and I spent July in Norway travelling south along the coast from the border with Russia towards Trondheim. Amongst the highlights, of which where were many, we discovered Gudbrandsdalen (aka Brunost — literally 'Brown Cheese'). This sweet cheese is found in every grocery store across the country. It's dense in texture with a fudge-like flavour and a slightly earthy, tangy undertone from the blend of goat and cow's milk.
The first version of Gudbrandsdalen dates back to 1863, made by slow cooking whey and cream. The cheese is now traditionally enjoyed thinly sliced on bread, or with cardamom-scented waffles and jam or fresh berries. The cheese slice (or plane), also invented in Norway, comes in very handy to make the perfect slice!
In an ice cream the flavour reminiscent of dulce de leche comes through, balancing sweetness with the salty, savoury, rich flavours of the cheese. I freshly roast hazelnuts in brown butter and flaky sea salt (brown butter has a nutty flavour amplifying the effect) for a contrasting crunch that beats shop-bought roasted nuts hands down.
If you're on the fence, Gudbrandsdalen with Buttered Hazelnut has become my most popular flavour throughout the year (even with cheese sceptics and those who have tried and not enjoyed Brunost on it's own before).
Locally foraged fig leaves
May and June sees the emergence of fresh, delicate fig leaves. In his new book 'Tree Hunting', Paul Wood notes that the fig tree "could justly be described as the city's signature tree". At the height of Sheffield's industrial past, fig seeds were carried down the rivers and the water that had been warmed by the city's industry provided the perfect environment for them to flourish. Fortunately our rivers and city are much cleaner now, with the fig tree a reminder of this past that's now found across the city.
I first discovered the incredible flavour of the fig leaf in Italy when I infused fresh leaves into custard. The flavour is reminiscent of coconut and vanilla with hints of matcha and (unsurprisingly) fig! Fortunately we have an abundance of fig trees in Sheffield so I can continue to make this flavour. It's beautiful paired with blackberries that I picked locally late last summer and froze whilst they were at their best to use at a later date.