Have your cake and eat it!
New Cornish micro-enterprise Je Tam is filling the counters of local delis and stores with ‘clean and raw’ cakes, biscuits, chocolate and desserts this January, in a bid to get more people to go guilt-free in 2015.
Mother and daughter team, Tam and Monika Schallhorn, are waging a war against the idea of guilty pleasure when it comes to food. Their innovative range of products is designed to satisfy even the most powerful of sweet-tooth cravings while cutting out sugar, wheat, gluten and dairy; offering health benefits at the same time.
Raw, whole foods – nuts, seeds and fruit as well as raw (untreated) cacao – are combined in fine-tuned recipes, which seem just as delicious and indulgent as their ‘guilty’ counterparts.
Some of Je Tam’s most popular products include Chocolate Cheesecake, Coconut Macaroons, Salted Caramel Raw Chocolates, Bounty Bars and Lemon, Lime and Coconut Bars. Je Tam also makes savoury burgers in a variety of flavours including beetroot and mushroom. Packed with goodness, these contain very small amounts of dairy and gluten.
Je Tam’s products can be found at Archie Browns in Penzance and Truro, The Natural Store in Helston and Falmouth, Elixir Soup and Juice (also in Falmouth) The Granary and The Front Room – both in Penzance.
“Guilt-free doesn’t have to mean bland and boring,” explained Tam, who studies Nutrition as well as running her own business, which is based at Foundry Farm in Hayle. Lora Holdsworth from the Allotment Deli agrees: “We have had so much good feedback; people are really impressed with how good Je Tam’s products taste, even when they aren’t loaded with what we think of as indulgent ingredients, like butter and cream.”
Tam started experimenting with raw cacao after giving up sugar. “I have a really sweet tooth and love my chocolate, so I needed to find a healthy substitute. I perfected several different kinds of cheesecake before my husband challenged me to make ‘clean’ versions of some of his favourite things. That’s how my take on the Viscount biscuit was born – it’s become one of our bestsellers!”
Launching her own range at the end of 2014, Tam soon found she needed an extra pair of hands and recruited her mum Monika, who previously had her own business – Fresh Cafe in Hayle. She was only too happy to help her daughter realise her dreams. “I wanted to support Tam, who has such a flair for coming up with new product ideas and presenting them beautifully.”
Je Tam’s products can be found at local stockists mentioned above, or can be ordered over the phone or online for collection at Je Tam’s raw food kitchen, Foundry Farm, Hayle.
The range is always expanding and, with a website set to be launched later this year, Je Tam is a fledgling business about to take off.
To find out more visit www.jetam.co.uk or find Je tam on Facebook – www.facebook.com/pages/je-tam/