Looking for some tasty treats to add to your toast, cracker, bagel , or sandwich? How about stopping Blake Hill Preserves at their new location at Artisan Park in Windsor?
I stopped by at the Maker’s Market and sampled some cheeses at the Cheeseboard. Then I headed across the street to a new business I’d never seen.
The shop was beautiful with minimalist décor, which really made the product stand out.
Production: Behind the Scenes
I especially liked seeing the racks of preserves that were fresh and hadn’t even been labeled yet.
Right next to the rack you could actually view the kitchen. It made me feel like I was seeing behind the scenes of the production process.
Tasty Samples
After I walked around and tried some samples, I spoke with the cofounder, Vicky Allard, about their product. Their products are so popular they can’t make enough for the demand, selling out of their popular flavors like black currant and mint. Their flavors sounded delicious and unique like summer peach and ginger, wild blueberry and lemon, or apricot and orange chutney. Their maple syrup butter is slow cooked for eight hours and is a good seller as well. Yum.
Partnering with Other Businesses
They even partner with the other Artisan Park businesses which I thought was really cool. They use Silo’s bourbon whiskey in one of their marmalade varieties, which I tried and enjoyed. They sell Castleton Crackers to pair with their product. You can even see what cheeses go well with their product, which is great because there’s a cheese store right next door!
The creativity continues. They’re working on a recipe for an onion jam using Harpoon beer for the fall. I’m sure it’ll be a hit. They source their fruits locally too if possible. They recently produced a red currant and wild bergamot jam with currants from Cherry Hill Farm in Springfield and Blake Hill’s wild bergamont, Sounds delicious.
Of course I thought the jam jokes were fun too and created a fun vibe to the store.
Great for Gifts
Stop by and buy some for yourself or someone you care about. They come in traditional sized jars (9 oz) or gift size (1.5 oz). I don’t eat a lot of jam so I like the small sizes so I can buy a bunch and try a lot of different flavors, which is what I think I’ll do since Blake Hill has so many wonderful flavors to choose from. Hm… I think they would make a good cheese cake filling too. I feel inspired to bake…
If you want to learn more about how this local company got started and their awards, check out this recent article.
