Our Cave to Co-op for January 2025 is Cranberry Windsordale from Vermont Farmstead, South Woodstock, Vermont.
The Vermont Farmstead Cheese Company, the first community-owned artisan cheese and dairy facility in Vermont, began as a neighborhood effort to save a local hillside farm and its surrounding rural landscape in South Woodstock, Vermont. In very short order, the dairy farm was transformed into an award-winning cheese company that is creating an entirely new generation of unique farmstead and artisanal cheeses. Vermont Farmstead’s multi-breed herd, sustainable dairy farming, and creative cheese makers have added a distinctly Vermont take on traditional “old-world” cheeses. In 2012, they created a cut and wrap and shipping facility in Windsor, Vermont, to help with the ongoing company growth. While eagerly embracing the effects of this anticipated growth, the company remains firmly dedicated to its founding principles to produce a variety of unique and excellent cheeses, gently care for its own herd of cows and farmland, serve as a model of sustainable dairy farming, and support Vermont’s family farms and rural communities.
The entire line of Vermont Farmstead cheeses is made in small batches at the farm and creamery in
South Woodstock, Vermont. The farmstead milk comes from their mixed herd of Holstein, Jersey, Ayrshire, Brown Swiss and Milking Shorthorn. This blend makes for exceptional milk, with each breed contributing a different component for a unique and excellent combination for cheese.
Any other milk brought in for their artisanal cheeses is 100% Vermont milk from local farms. All-natural farmstead and local milk, careful artisanal, hand-crafted cheesemaking, and a love of old-world cheeses have resulted in a wide array of delicious, award-winning cheeses.
Whole cranberries burst with tart flavor in this raw-milk, British-style WindsorDale cheese, made with a late 1800 farmhouse Wensleydale recipe. This delicious hard cheese has a honeyed aftertaste and firm, flaky texture that loves that additional cranberry zing.
Cranberry Windsordale Scones
Ingredients
1⅔ cups self-raising flour
2 T unsalted butter, cold and cubed
½ c Cranberry Windsordale, grated (plus extra for topping)
1 pinch of cinnamon
scant ½ c milk
1 egg yolk (for egg wash)
Directions
1.Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2.In a large bowl, rub the cold butter into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3.Stir in the grated Cranberry Windsordale and the pinch of cinnamon.
4.Gradually add the milk, stirring with a knife until the mixture begins to come together into a soft dough. (The original recipe called for 100ml milk, which is just under ½ cup, so don’t use all the milk if the dough doesn’t need it.) Be careful not to overmix.
5.Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until smooth.
6.Roll the dough out to just under ½” thickness.
7.Use a round cutter to cut out the scones. Re-roll any scraps to cut out more scones.
8.Place the scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
9.Brush the tops with egg yolk and sprinkle with additional grated WindsorDale cheese if desired.
10.Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on top.
