A CHORLEY entrepreneur whose business uses in-season fruit to make ice cream is calling on people to rescue the region’s “secret” damson crop.
Bleasdale’s Ice Cream, which counts damson amongst its range of flavours, is seeking good quality damson fruit donations from the public.
Business founder Colin Bleasdale promises that every donated bounty will be rewarded with a sample of his damson ice cream.
Every year hundreds of thousands of damsons in “hidden” orchards and gardens across the North West, from trees originally planted to make dye
for Lancashire’s textile industry, go to waste.
Colin, whose business also makes ice cream from rhubarb, strawberries, blackberries and bilberries, reckons it takes more than 100
damsons to make just 1 litre of ice cream.
The business finds its raw ingredients from abandoned orchards around Lancashire. It often receives donations of fruit and berries from the
public and usually rewards the benefactor with ice cream.
Colin said: “It’s a shame so many damsons are wasted because they give a better flavour than plums in my opinion, yet plums seem to get more
publicity.
“I think one of the reasons they are not used more is because they’re difficult to prepare. But if you’re making something by hand it’s definitely worth the effort.”
Bleasdale’s damson ice cream is currently impressing tastebuds at food festivals across the region.
Next up is the Llangollen Food festival on Saturday October 15 and Sunday October 16, where festival goers can give the ice cream a try.
Colin added: “Damson is one of our best ice creams – it’s sweet and bursting with flavour. I hope people can come and visit us in Llangollen
and give it a try.
“Even if they can’t they should go on the festival’s website and have a look at the recipes we suggest for other damson-flavoured desserts.”
