Taste Derbyshire – A Taste of North Derbyshire Yogurt
Driving along a single-track road, which meanders through the craggy hill and grassy dales of North Derbyshire, I am forced to perform an emergency stop. It’s not a good time. I am – thanks to a Sat Nav intent on herding me back to an A-road – twenty minutes late for an appointment with yogurt-maker Laura Howe. But what can I do? A hare has decided to hop slowly down the road in front of my car. Unlike me, he is clearly not late for an important date. When I finally reach my destination – Leisure Farm at Cressbrook – it’s well worth all the U-turns. Sitting at the kitchen table, with a restorative mug of tea in hand, my eyes keep straying to the window. Laura’s home is surrounded on all sides by never-ending fields on which husband Tom, and his family, keep their free-range dairy herd. The cows graze over 265 acres of land known as Litton Slack at the heart of Derbyshire’s White Peak. This is rambler country; luscious green meadows dissected only by centuries old limestone walls and sheer, breath-taking ascents falling into verdant valleys. It’s easy to see why Laura wanted to create a business inspired by the location. Never mind yogurt-makers – artists and poets would be moved by this countryside setting. “We were on a family holiday in Pembrokeshire when I realised how many people were running a rural business from their farms and homes and I wanted to do something like that,” Laura recalls. “My favourite was a tea shop in Bosherston Lilypond, which was in the front garden of a ladies’ cottage. She just did simple things like cream teas and cakes. I came away thinking I’d love to put that ethos into a business of my own.” Back in North Derbyshire, Laura began to think of products which could be made using milk from the family herd. The cows are mainly made up from pedigree Dairy Shorthorns; renown for producing creamy, protein-rich milk ideal for making dairy products like cheese and butter. “My first idea was to make ice-cream but one free from any preservatives and additives,” says Laura who launched her eponymous ‘Laura’s Dairy’ in December 2014. “I did a few trial-runs and got as far as looking at machinery. But a relative of ours spoke to the manager at the Chatsworth Estate Farm Shop. He told her the real gap in the market was for a yogurt produced in Derbyshire. I did a bit of research and realised farms which make yogurt from their own milk are few and far between. The nearest one is in Leicestershire.” For Laura, the suggestion was like lighting a touch-paper. Somehow – in-between juggling a job in the public sector in Matlock and looking after her three boys William (12), George (10), and four-year-old Ted – Laura turned every bit of spare time over to developing a ‘really good’ yogurt unsullied by superfluous ingredients. “My job involves a lot research but, even with the help of my sister-in-law, it still took two years to get up and running as we had to jump through so many hoops,” Laura recalls. “We also tested a lot of yogurt. I wonder what the staff in Waitrose at Buxton thought when we were buying £20-worth at a time?” Laura says the help she got from Derbyshire Dales District Council was invaluable. “They were able to give everything from practical advice on yogurt making to advising us on what funding was available,” Laura says. “Also, we got a massive amount of input from other food producers including a lady called Christine Ashby who has worked in the dairy industry for years.” Christine, an award-winning cheese-maker, teaches dairy and cheese courses at colleges and food schools. “We met thanks to Reaseheath College in Cheshire,” Laura explained. “I’d planned to do their yogurt-making course but they thought it might be too basic and gave me the tutor’s number. Christine ended up coming to teach at my home for two days.” Laura’s aim was to make a stripped down, ‘grown-up’ yogurt; low on sugar but naturally creamy due to the protein-rich milk. “When Christine said I’d have to put skimmed milk powder to control the amount of liquid whey, I wasn’t keen on adding anything,” she says. “But she was right. The small batches were fine but once we started making yogurt in bigger quantities, a puddle appeared on the top. It tasted fine, but the texture was too runny.” Christine’s advice also proved to be invaluable when it came to perfecting the products. “I think it helped that she wasn’t a fan of yogurt,” Laura smiled. “The honesty of her feed-back was fantastic. The first batch of natural yogurt wasn’t quite right and so I spent a few months tweaking it. Getting the consistency right was the biggest challenge. When I found out Christine was running a cheese-making course in Bakewell I took her another sample. She really liked it.” With the natural yogurt perfected, Laura decided to branch out on different flavours and roped in friends, family and colleagues as ‘tasters’. “I was very popular in the office as I’d often come in with samples,” she recalls. “I’m pleased to say they loved all the yogurts. In fact, I still get lots of orders from work. My colleague Barbara uses yogurt instead of butter in a delicious orange cake.” Talking to Laura, it’s clear why the yogurts have been attracting such glowing praise from customers. Her social media page is liberally sprinkled with positive reviews; the most common adjectives used are ‘creamy’ and ‘delicious’. Small wonder two of Laura’s yogurts scooped prestigious prizes at the Bakewell Show last summer. Her salted caramel – inspired by her children’s love of caramel desserts – was pipped by her own lemon curd which won a highly contested 1st prize. “I love homemade lemon curd but wasn’t sure about making my own as I am no baker,” Laura explained. “I approached
