News from the Bluebell Cottage Kitchen!

Special Valentine's Day Fudge & Nougat!

This year we really wanted to do something special for Valentine's Day with both our fudge & our nougat. When we sat down to have a think about what would be really nice, we kept on coming back to the same ideas. Strawberries, cream & prosecco! The cream part was easy. Our signature clotted cream fudge had to be included. The stuff is that good its dangerous.

The next was the strawberry. A lot of experimentation in the Bluebell Cottage kitchen saw us finally come up with an absolutely beautiful fudge. We have called it strawberry dream and the name is quite appropriate! The base fudge is our clotted cream fudge however it has been enhanced with a natural strawberry taste and to finish off, we have even included real strawberry pieces. The tasting session was the real eureka moment! We knew we had something special on our hands the moment we tried it. Mike even suggested it was that good he 'wanted to chop it up and sprinkle it on his cereal!'

Prosecco was a different challenge entirely. This took a few attempts to get it right. We had moved seriously out of our comfort zone and we knew it. We nearly even gave up on the idea. Perseverance however always pays and by the end we have created a seriously lovely, creamy smooth fudge with a mellow prosecco flavour. If you love prosecco then we think you'll love this!

Although we were intent on creating something different for Valentine's Day we didn't want to abandon our principles as a business. To achieve this, we have made sure our Valentine's fudge gift box and our Valentine's nougat gift box are both fully compostable, 100% plastic free, including the clear window (just like our other gift bags).

For our nougat gift box we decided to let our customers be the judge. When we analysed our data from our online sales and our market stall there were 3 clear winners. Almond Royal had to be included. It is such a favourite, with its smooth consistency and beautiful almonds. Our signature strawberry nougat has really come out of nowhere to be one of our most popular choices. Having asked a selection of our customer base, we were told that we had to include strawberry and while we were at it we really needed to consider the cherry brandy option too. In hindsight I don't know why we hadn't thought about it. Cherry brandy nougat is a seriously lush flavour so in the end it was an easy choice. We are pretty sure that if you like nougat then you will love our Valentines nougat choices.

Both our gift boxes are 1kg in weight, giving you plenty to keep you nibbling and each flavour is sealed in their own individual plastic free bags to seal in the freshness. 

If you want to show a fudge or nougat lover you care this Valentine's Day then I would definitely consider the Bluebell Cottage Valentine's range. 

Merry Christmas from everyone at Bluebell Cottage! It’s been a difficult year for everyone. Throughout 2020 we have seen difficult conditions that have effected our market days in Stratford upon Avon and beyond, however that negative allowed us to explore our online offering. A positive was gained from the negative and we have found many new friends including some lovely small businesses. The Bluebell Cottage kitchen has been a very busy place in the lead up to Christmas and we are enjoying a well deserved rest over the festive period however we are still shipping orders. Our online selection may be slightly less than usual as a result of our Christmas orders but we intend to restore our selection as soon as possible. 2021 gives us a chance to work on some new ideas in the kitchen and to make some changes to our market stall. More importantly it gives us a chance to look forward from 2020 with renewed optimism and to wish all our customers, friends and fellow small businesses the best and to hope that everyone stays safe and well. Hopefully we will see you all soon.

Important Christmas delivery news

As has been reported on the news in recent days, the Royal Mail have recently been struggling to cope with the demand placed upon it in the run up to Christmas. At Bluebell Cottage, we use the Royal Mail for our deliveries & we have noticed delays in our packages reaching our customers. This has varied from a slight delay to the occasional delay of over a week. Please be patient with us if you are waiting for your order. We ship all our orders immediately and the vast majority arrive in good time. If you are concerned about your delivery please speak to us, however we would advise our customers to show a little patience with the Royal Mail as they work through their parcels during an unprecedented level of demand.

If ordering for a Christmas present then we would advise placing your order by the 17th of December.

After this point we cannot reasonably guarantee that your parcel will arrive before the big day. As we use the Royal Mail for our deliveries, we are in their hands. Our free delivery offer is using a standard Royal Mail service however we do offer an express service on all orders for £5 and we would suggest using this service to guarantee a quicker delivery. Bluebell Cottage cannot be held responsible for any deliveries that do not arrive before Christmas Day & orders are placed with the understanding of this. If you are unsure we would suggest speaking to us before placing an order at present.

Wet market days, a company video, fudge cooked this week, a new fudge favourite, Christmas ideas & an Instagram friend cooks with our salted caramel! A busy week in the Bluebell Cottage.