Enjoy the festive fun in Helmsley

Christmas is coming! Despite how some of us might be in denial, it’s less than four weeks now until the big day…

This weekend sees the annual Small Business Saturday celebrations in Helmsley to kick start the town’s festivities.

On Saturday 1^st December a day of festive fun is planned which will offer something for the whole family. A huge snow globe you can climb inside, perfect for the selfie taker amongst you. The giant Nutcracker Trail, with 6.5ft nutcrackers hiding around Helmsley. Music, entertainers and rides – everyone loves a bouncy castle! There’s a dog fancy dress competition and the best dressed two or three wheels for the kids. If you want to leave having learnt some new skills Helmsley Walled Garden is holding wreath making workshops and the very talented Rhian at Celebrate Country Cake Design is holding a sugar craft demonstration. Teams from the Fire Brigade, Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Mountain Rescue will be there to chat to visitors – and the big man in red will of course be there in his grotto.

We love to get involved. We’re offering some delicious in-store tastings from some fantastic local suppliers. There’ll be Albion Artisan handmade pate, which is made in Epworth, Doncaster, Hooting Owl Distillery-Gin from Barmby Moor, and Three Girls Orchard Apple Juice which is made in our very own Helmsley. We do hope you’ll come along and have a try!

Small Business Saturday is a great idea to celebrate the wonderful independent businesses out there – of which there are dozens in Helmsley. It’s a great opportunity for the local community and visitors from further afield to come and join in the fun and games while doing a spot of Christmas shopping. We, and our retailing neighbours, have lots of fantastic and unique ideas for gifts, and ways to make your Christmas extra magical this year. By shopping local you’re helping to keep the high street alive and keeping money and jobs in the local economy. And you get great customer service and fantastic, hand-picked products. Win-win!

The festivities don’t end on Saturday – Helmsley’s annual Christmas Tree Festival continues on until 16^th December, open daily from 10am to 4pm. There’s 26 trees, all individually decorated to the theme of “The best of Helmsley” by organisations and businesses in the town. We have one – see if you can spot it! And although our giant nutcrackers can only be in town for the day, there is a miniature nutcracker trail taking place until 16^th too. There’s approximately 30 mini nutcrackers (the soldier kind, not the walnut cracking variety) hiding in shops around town. Pick up a trail from Helmsley Traditional Sweet Shop and see if you can find them for your chance to win a prize!

So, we look forward to seeing lots of our regulars and meeting some new faces over the next few weeks – bring on the celebrations!

Nothing bundt the best at Hunters…

You may remember that back in September we announced a partnership with the wonderful Bakehouse in the Barn.

The very talented (and award-winning) Sophie Smith whipped up a storm with her pecan, date and banana muffins, which flew off the shelf here in store, but were also a huge hit in terms of getting people in their kitchen to give baking them a go themselves.

The aim of the partnership is to create seasonal products using local ingredients, with the finished bake, made by Sophie’s own hand, sold exclusively in our deli - but with the recipe available to anyone who wants to have a try. We’ve kept them simple (but utterly delicious) so anyone can give them a go – children, grown ups, those who shy away from baking in any way – you don’t have to be Mary Berry to give them a whirl. And you can always come and talk to Sophie when she’s in store, if yours don’t turn out quite the way hers did. But, if you really don’t fancy donning a pinny, come in store and treat yourself – Sophie’s always turn out perfect every time!

So, excitingly, Sophie has developed her second recipe for us – which we’re delighted to say has a definite seasonal appeal! Welcome to the festive Cranberry and Orange Bundt – a delicious Christmas treat, which is suitable for vegans and those with a dairy intolerance.

Using locally-produced Yorkshire rapeseed oil as the fat and a plant-based milk (Sophie recommends almond but you might have a personal favourite), the cakes make a light and fruity treat jam-packed with seasonal flavours. Just the smell of these takes you straight to Christmas – if you had these baking in the oven your whole house would smell like Mrs Claus’ kitchen! 

The cakes can be bought in store for £1.85 until the end of December, but you’re welcome to whip up a batch to try with your family and friends – we have copies of the recipe in store as well as below.

Happy baking – and eating!

Rise to the occasion

15th to 21st October marked National Baking Week. We have to agree with the timing on that, there’s something about October and November that makes you want to head to the kitchen and whip up some nice comforting cakes, pies and crumbles. Although we’re pretty happy to eat any of those at any time of the year, to be honest.

Perhaps that’s why the Great British Bake Off hits our screens this time of year too? Watching it certainly helps build up an appetite – although it might be just as likely to put us off baking for ourselves given the pressure of trying to create a showstopper we’ve never even heard of in a few short hours (korovai anyone?)

Last year, The Grocer reported that the number of households buying home baking products during Great British Bake Off season jumped by more than 1.1 million (almost 10%) - the sharpest spike of recent years. Its research also showed that the proportion of Brits baking on a weekly basis had risen (excuse the pun) to 34% who were donning their apron at least once a week. One in 10 women say the show inspires them to bake – especially those aged 25 to 34.

However, other research from Statista shows 48% of the population never ever bake at home from scratch – it’s not everyone’s cup of tea of course. Although enjoying a slice of something freshly baked with a cup of tea is, usually.

The research revealed our favourite bake to be – unsurprisingly – is cakes (75%), followed by cupcakes (39%), biscuits (37%), pies (33%) and then bread (29%). It seems those bread makers everyone had on their kitchen worktops a couple of decades ago may now mainly be gathering dust…

Baking as a family is something many of us will have warm memories of – whether it was our grandma teaching us how to make scones, or parents passing down a family recipe. Cooking is a great thing to do with kids – a bit of maths, a bit of science, a lot of fun – and potentially a good way to get them to try new things. But it’s not just for kids. How long is it since you’ve tried your hand at making a cake, or have you been tempted to use the delicious fruit falling from the trees at the moment to make a pie or tart? Why not call in and see us for all the ingredients you might need? And if you have any dietary requirements to work around (even Bake Off had a dairy-free vegan week this year), we can help with that too. We have the best quality ingredients we’ve tried and tested ourselves, so we know you’ll get the best results. From using Yorkshire Rapeseed oil instead of butter, to coconut flour instead of the run of the mill kind (geddit?) we can help recommend our favourite swaps.

Of course, we all have our strengths and weaknesses – and not everyone is a gifted baker. Have no fear, there’s no need for you to miss out on handmade goodies – we have plenty in store! We currently have the rather wonderful partnership with Bakehouse in the Barn, and there’s a new recipe about to hit the shop – watch this space…

So, whether you’re the baker, or the enjoyer of someone else’s baked goods, it all sounds pretty tasty to us!