Situated on the Cooley Peninsula lies Muchgrange farm, where the Hanlon family have been milking cows for generations.
Growing up, Micheal John always had an interest in drinking the milk from his own cows, and having some extra time during the pandemic allowed him to get things started.
“We use so much milk in our house and the only thing that was keeping us back was that our own milk was unpasteurised,” says Micheal John.
After talking with his family and contacting the Department of Agriculture, he got a small pasteuriser and began production.
“We started off selling our milk in our own farm shop and then decided to experiment with different flavours of milk by adding syrups," says Micheal John.
“We soon had chocolate, strawberry, mint, banana and salted caramel flavours flying out – they were a great hit over lockdown.”
Now, Muchgrange farm is supplying milk to over 40 local restaurants and coffee shops whilst maintaining their own farm shop.
However, Micheal John is currently most excited for the progression of Muchgrange’s most recent addition to the enterprise and that is Muchgrange Gelato.
Italian Influence
Micheal John and his family wanted to progress Muchgrange farm further and, after attending an event with Perfect Food Solutions, another local business selling food production machines, the idea of Muchgrange gelato began.
Muchgrange milk and Christmas pudding gelato.
“We saw a demonstration of a gelato machine by an Italian chef, and our milk was being used, so that led us to purchase the machine”, he explains.
Micheal John says that the difference between gelato and regular ice-cream is that gelato uses less cream and more milk and usually contains no egg yolks.
“I think gelato also has a better taste - you can really taste the flavours better,” he adds.
Festive flavours
Muchgrange gelato has expanded its flavours for the festive season by bringing in a series of special flavours, including Christmas pudding, biscoff gingerbread, mixed berry, and candy cane.
The Muchgrange Gelato Christmas kit.
Micheal John says his favourite flavour has to be the Christmas pudding: “It’s made the same way as all our gelato”, he explains.
“We pasteurise the ingredients for the base mix in the pasteuriser and then mix in the pudding before we put the complete mixture into the multi-freezer, which then turns into a delicious soft gelato.
“For the base mix, well, the recipe is a well-kept secret,” Micheal John laughs.
As well as selling the gelato from their farm directly, they have also began supplying it to a few local coffee shops.
“We here at Muchgrange Farm are constantly trying new things, experimenting with new flavours and are excited to see what is to come next," he says.
For information on Christmas orders and opening hours, Muchgrange Farm can be found on both Facebook and Instagram by searching ‘Muchgrange Farm’.
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Situated on the Cooley Peninsula lies Muchgrange farm, where the Hanlon family have been milking cows for generations.
Growing up, Micheal John always had an interest in drinking the milk from his own cows, and having some extra time during the pandemic allowed him to get things started.
“We use so much milk in our house and the only thing that was keeping us back was that our own milk was unpasteurised,” says Micheal John.
After talking with his family and contacting the Department of Agriculture, he got a small pasteuriser and began production.
“We started off selling our milk in our own farm shop and then decided to experiment with different flavours of milk by adding syrups," says Micheal John.
“We soon had chocolate, strawberry, mint, banana and salted caramel flavours flying out – they were a great hit over lockdown.”
Now, Muchgrange farm is supplying milk to over 40 local restaurants and coffee shops whilst maintaining their own farm shop.
However, Micheal John is currently most excited for the progression of Muchgrange’s most recent addition to the enterprise and that is Muchgrange Gelato.
Italian Influence
Micheal John and his family wanted to progress Muchgrange farm further and, after attending an event with Perfect Food Solutions, another local business selling food production machines, the idea of Muchgrange gelato began.
Muchgrange milk and Christmas pudding gelato.
“We saw a demonstration of a gelato machine by an Italian chef, and our milk was being used, so that led us to purchase the machine”, he explains.
Micheal John says that the difference between gelato and regular ice-cream is that gelato uses less cream and more milk and usually contains no egg yolks.
“I think gelato also has a better taste - you can really taste the flavours better,” he adds.
Festive flavours
Muchgrange gelato has expanded its flavours for the festive season by bringing in a series of special flavours, including Christmas pudding, biscoff gingerbread, mixed berry, and candy cane.
The Muchgrange Gelato Christmas kit.
Micheal John says his favourite flavour has to be the Christmas pudding: “It’s made the same way as all our gelato”, he explains.
“We pasteurise the ingredients for the base mix in the pasteuriser and then mix in the pudding before we put the complete mixture into the multi-freezer, which then turns into a delicious soft gelato.
“For the base mix, well, the recipe is a well-kept secret,” Micheal John laughs.
As well as selling the gelato from their farm directly, they have also began supplying it to a few local coffee shops.
“We here at Muchgrange Farm are constantly trying new things, experimenting with new flavours and are excited to see what is to come next," he says.
For information on Christmas orders and opening hours, Muchgrange Farm can be found on both Facebook and Instagram by searching ‘Muchgrange Farm’.
Read more
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