The idea for Moose Maple Butter came to me quite by accident over breakfast in New York, a few years ago. I was staring at a slice of hot, buttered, sourdough toast and craving something sweet to slather on it.
Being on a health kick at the time, I was determined to avoid refined sugars and artificial sweeteners, so that meant I couldn’t have any of the jam, marmalade and chocolate spreads on the breakfast table. However, the maple syrup (this was New York after all) caught my eye and checking it was natural and pure, I poured a little on that toast: and the taste just blew me away! (Think pancake toast – truly sweet and buttery and warm and delicious.)
I discovered that there was really no branded maple butter available in the US or, even more bizarrely, in Canada. (The Canadians do have a maple “butter” which is made by heating pure maple syrup and then beating it into a caramel-like spread. It’s all maple syrup and has no actual dairy butter in it.) And so I started making it at home. For myself. For family. For friends. And the demand grew from that – with school mums and Dads asking for tubs and sending me photos of happy kids (we call them Moosers).
I drew the logo myself and bought tubs and labels from small-batch suppliers. It was all very expensive and artisan, a hobby really. I certainly wasn’t making money. And it wasn’t meant to be a business: I still had my day job! But when I started posting some of those Mooser photos on a Twitter and Facebook account – bloggers and Selfridges and … Nigella (no less!) started to comment! And then there was no turning back and here we are…
No longer made at a kitchen table in South West London, Moose Maple Butter is now lovingly produced by the awesome folk at Gower View Foods in Carmarthenshire in South West Wales. #welshcowsarethebest A family-run dairy production unit using milk from grass-fed cows – nothing but the best!