Our Cow Molly – the freshest milk and the tastiest ice cream, all produced in Sheffield

Yesterday I finally got to visit Our Cow Molly, a dairy farm on the edge of Sheffield owned and run by the Andrew family. I’ve wanted to go for ages but either I’ve been away from Sheffield for the weekend or it’s not really been the weather for a walk out there. Yes, you read that right. I live in the centre of Sheffield and we walked the whole 5.1 miles there and back again. (Actually closer to 6 miles there when you factor in our unintentional detours, but that’s another story) I can honestly say, it was worth every step; their ice cream is amazing!

We treated ourselves to a 3-scoop tub each – with so many tempting flavours, I couldn’t possibly have limited myself to any less! I had Cora’s Chaos (dairy ice cream with mini maltesers, mini marshmallows and bits of cookie in chocolate sauce), Panna Cotta (panna cotta flavour ice cream with swirls of caramel sauce), and Bakewell Tart (roast almond flavour ice cream with pieces of biscuit and raspberry jam). Mat also had Cora’s Chaos and Panna Cotta, but opted for the Snickers flavour rather than the Bakewell Tart.

The first flavour I tried was Cora’s Chaos. For those people curious about the name of this flavour (I know I was), it seems to be named after the daughter of Eddie and Madeline Andrew, who were initially responsible for making and selling the ice cream when Our Cow Molly first ventured into ice cream in 2007.  Now, I ‘ve had marshmallows in ice cream before, but I’ve never been that fussed on the combination because the marshmallows always go rock solid and the whole point of marshmallows is that they’re meant to be soft and chewy. Somehow though, Matt and Dave (who I believe are responsible for making the ice cream these days) have found a way to keep the marshmallows soft and chewy. This means that with each spoonful, you get the perfect balance of smooth, seriously creamy ice cream, soft and chewy marshmallows, and crunchy maltesers and cookie pieces. I really thought it couldn’t get any better.

I ate the Panna Cotta scoop next, which was even creamier than Cora’s Chaos and had an absolutely delicious flavour thanks to the caramel sauce running through it. If I could only eat Our Cow Molly Panna Cotta ice cream for the rest of my life, I’d be more than happy. I think Mat would agree with this as he said it was his favourite flavour of the three that he had.

I saved the Bakewell Tart scoop until last. This was a flavour that I’d heard and read a lot about while doing my research on Our Cow Molly (yes, I take desserts very seriously…), and it seemed to be a firm favourite with many people. In light of that, I’d been hoping that it would be available in the Farm Shop and was relieved that there was just enough left when we arrived for me to have a scoop. It had a strong almond taste but was balanced perfectly with the raspberry sauce and overall was just fantastic in regards to both texture and flavour. I am now one of the many who cite Bakewell Tart as their favourite choice.

Next on my list to try are Ferrero Rocher (who wouldn’t think that that sounds like the best thing ever?!), Rhubarb & Custard (my rhubarb obsession surfaces again…), Cappuccino with a kick (coffee is a go-to flavour for me with ice cream and I can only imagine the Our Cow Molly version being one of the best, if not the best), and Raspberry Ripple (I used to love raspberry ripple ice cream when I was little so this would be a tasty bit of nostalgia).

Mat's ice cream, photo courtesy of Mat Robinson

The Farm Shop is quite small, with only a handful of tables inside and a few more sheltered tables outside, but they’ve made good use of the space available. Alongside the tables there is the 16-flavour scooping cabinet, and fridges, shelves and a freezer stocking not only Our Cow Molly milk and ice cream for you to take home with you, but also produce from local companies such as Just Preserves, The Sheffield Honey Company, Moss Valley, Round Green Farm, Longley Farm, and their neighbours duck eggs, hen eggs and potatoes. The shop was busy the whole time we were there (which shows you how popular Our Cow Molly is) so unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to take a photo inside, but take it from me, everyone would like this place.

After eating our ice creams we went to look at the calves (who I think were only a few weeks old). They were adorable and I’m not really sure whether some of the children there were more excited about the ice cream or seeing the animals!

Before leaving, I popped back to the Farm Shop and bought an Our Cow Molly cool bag (£5.99) and one of the pink Our Cow Molly cups (£3.99).  Apart from the fact that the cups look really cute, the best bit is that you get free milk refills for life at the Farm Shop (so at that price, I’d say it’s definitely a bargain!).

Our Cow Molly Milk Cups (I bought the pink one), photo republished with permission from Eddie Andrew at Our Cow Molly

While we were there I spotted a poster on the wall showing the milk route for Our Cow Molly milk compared to the milk route taken by normal supermarket milk, which I found really interesting. Eddie was kind enough to email me through a copy to include in this post. I encourage you to click the image and have a read; it certainly made me appreciate the freshness of my bottle of Our Cow Molly milk more than I had before!

Our Cow Molly Milk Route vs. Supermarket Milk Route, image republished with permission from Eddie Andrew at Our Cow Molly

Things have been tough for dairy farmers over the last few years and the recent announcements by certain big supermarkets mean that some farmers are selling their milk for less than it’s costing them to produce it. This is a situation that Our Cow Molly were once facing, which is one of the main reasons that they started making ice cream in the first place. Now they are supported by local independent businesses in Sheffield who sell their products at a fair price. Really, when you can support local business and get such high quality it’s quite a no-brainer. ‘Shop local, buy fresh’ is a phrase I’ve come across a lot recently, and it’s one I agree with.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Our Cow Molly and will definitely be back – although maybe on the bus next time!

My new milk cup (complete with milk) meeting one of the Our Cow Molly cows, photo courtesy of Mat Robinson

The Farm Shop is open from 11am ‘til 6pm Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. See their website for upcoming events, information about the farm, the full list of Our Cow Molly ice cream flavours, and a list of Our Cow Molly Distributors

If you want to know how to get to and from Our Cow without walking or taking a car, you can get the Rural Links Bus - number 61 one way and 62 the other, which will drop you off right by the farm.