Berry Blog

We love berries. We eat them every day. Sometimes we cook them, sometimes we eat them straight out of the packet. This blog is our way of sharing and showing off some of the ways we use our berries. We've prepared the recipes in our test kitchen - which doubles as our staff kitchen. We hope you enjoy these recipes and ideas as much as we do.

Orchard Gold Blueberry Raspberry Brownies

I know that we see 'Treat Yo Self' everywhere, but maybe that's a good thing? It's incredibly hard to deny yourself every sweet thing - especially on special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, graduations...). So instead of saying no, say the occasional yes to a healthier version!

Raspberry Blueberry Chocolate Brownie

Orchard Gold Blueberry Raspberry Brownies

80g reduced fat spread, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 milk, trim
1 banana
1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup self raising flour
50g chocolate buttons
50g white chocolate buttons
75g Orchard Gold Blueberries
75g Orchard Gold Raspberries

1. Mix together the spread and sugar, before beating in the eggs.
2. Fold in the milk, banana, cocoa, and flours and then the chocolates and berries until just combined.
3. Pour the mixture into a lined 20cm tin and bake for 25 mins at 180°C, or until it is firm to the touch.

Find our Orchard Gold Berries at all leading supermarkets
and don't forget to follow us on Instagram @orchardgoldberries

Orchard Gold Wild Blueberry Snowballs

We've all experienced that drop in energy (and motivation!) a couple of hours after lunch. It's hard not to grab the nearest snack food and devour it. Unfortunately, often the nearest snack food is not the healthiest! These little balls of goodness will give you an awesome boost of energy and are far healthier than that chocolate bar... Best of all, this recipe is quick and easy - it's all over before it even starts!

Blueberry Snowballs edited

Orchard Gold Wild Blueberry Snowballs

1 cup The Smoothie Collection Naked Wild Blueberries (thawed)
12 dates
1/2 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup almond butter
1 cup oats
Handful of desicated coconut

1. Thaw out some wild blueberries, keeping any juice that leaks out of the berries.
2. In a food processor, blitz up the dates before adding in all other ingredients, except the coconut.
3. Pulse the processor to blend together the ingredients.
4. Hand roll the mixture into small balls before rolling in coconut to coat.
5. Refrigerate for about an hour before devouring.

Find our Orchard Gold Berries at all leading supermarkets
and don't forget to follow us on Instagram @orchardgoldberries

Orchard Gold Blueberry and Lemon Cake

While we're sure this is meant to be a lovely tea cake, it is also a superbly light birthday cake! Who doesn't gorge themselves on their birthday? It's one of the few days a year that you can do so, guilt-free. But, doesn't anyone experience that 'over full' feeling that means you can't really enjoy the cake?? What a waste! That's where this simple cake saves the day. It is much lighter than a chocolate mud cake, but is just as scrumptious!

Blueberry Lemon Cake-858

Orchard Gold Blueberry and Lemon Cake

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup light sour cream
2/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups self-raising flour
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp lemon zest
2 cups Orchard Gold Supreme Blueberries
1 Tbsp corn flour
1/2 tsp lemon juice

1. Light grease or line a round cake tin and preheat oven to 180˚C and thaw the blueberries.
2. Beat together eggs and sugar for about 5 minutes or until lightened in colour and thick.
3. At a low speed, beat in the sour cream, melted butter, and vanilla until well combined.
4. Add in the self raising flour, 1/3 at a time, gently mixing between each addition, adding in the lemon juice and zest with the last third. Be careful not to over mix.
5. Drain any excess juice from the thawed blueberries and coat with corn flour and lemon juice, mixing until well combined.
6. Pour half of the cake batter into the cake tin and spread out gently with a spatula. Spinkle half the blueberries over the batter. Spread the remaining batter and top with the remaining blueberries, pushing them slightly into the batter.
7. Bake for 45 - 55 mins. Let the cake rest in the tin for 15 mins, before removing to cool completely.

Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with a dollop of greek yoghurt.

Find our Orchard Gold Berries at all leading supermarkets
and don't forget to follow us on Instagram @orchardgoldberries

Orchard Gold Premium Mixed Berries Butter
with French Toast

We thought we'd use some of the last warm, sunny weather for a well deserved Sunday Brunch! What says 'brunch' more than some delicious French Toast? And what goes more with French Toast than berries?! ... Nothing.

This berry butter is so simple to make, but adds so much to your standard french toast. Even if you are not a butter person (myself included!), the berry butter has so much berry flavour, you forget there's actual butter mixed in!

Orchard Gold Premium Mixed Berries Butter with French Toast

150g butter, softened not melted

½ cup Orchard Gold Premium Mixed Berries

½ baguette (can be a few days old!)

½ cup milk

2 eggs

½ tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp sugar

1. Beat the softened butter, then stir in the berries until just combined. Turn the butter out onto plastic wrap laid over a sheet of tinfoil. Wrap the butter up and twist the ends, twisting the butter into a taut, tube shape. Put in the freezer for 30mins to firm up.
2. Cut up the baguette, either in circle or long, diagonal shapes. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, and cinnamon.
3. Soak the baguette slices in the egg mixture for a few seconds before placing in a hot, buttered pan. Fry on each side for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown.
4. Serve the French toast with slices of berry butter, topped with extra berries, Greek yoghurt, and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Find our Orchard Gold Berries at all leading supermarkets
and don't forget to follow us on Instagram @orchardgoldberries

Orchard Gold Blueberry Crumble Bars

Now that the weather is cooling down, we're excited to have an excellent reason to eat warm desserts again (you have to warm up somehow, right??) ! These blueberry crumble bars are quite versatile. They're good for a morning/afternoon tea with visiting friends and family, but they're also perfect for dessert with some vanilla ice cream, while binge watching Netflix, under a warm blanket!

They're so easy to make; you only have to use one bowl! In an airtight container, the bars will last about 10 days in the fridge. But we're sure they'll be gone long before then!

Orchard Gold Blueberry Crumble Bars

Crumble and Crust
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup soft brown sugar

Blueberry Filling
2 cups Orchard Gold Blueberries
1/3 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cornflour

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line a flat pan, about 20cm x 20cm.

2. To make the crumble and crust, in a large bowl, mix butter, flour, oats, and sugar together. The mixture should be like sand, with some larger crumble pieces.
3. Put 1 cup of crumble aside (for the top crumble), and press the remaining crumble into your pan quite firmly.
3. To make the blueberry filling, in the same (now empty) bowl, stir the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, and cornflour until the blueberries are well coated. Pour the bluberries, and any liquid sugar in the bowl, evenly over the crumble base.
4. Take the crumble that was put aside and sprinkle over the blueberry filling evenly.
5. Bake for 55 minutes or until the crumble is pale golden and the filling has 'set'. Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting.

Find our Orchard Gold Berries at all leading supermarkets
and don't forget to follow us on Instagram @orchardgoldberries

Orchard Gold Super Fruits Berry Curd

Curd is an amazing thing. Both sweet and sour, creamy and fruity, it can really add some wow factor to a standard baked good! We made our berry curd with our Orchard Gold Super Fruits Mixed Berries. The blackcurrants in this mix are quite a sour berry, so it balances perfectly with the sweeter blueberries and sugar in the curd. As curd is quite a sweet thing, we paired it with a plain scone, but we know it would taste good - maybe even better- with some vanilla ice cream!

Orchard Gold Super Fruits Berry Curd

3 1/2 cups Orchard Gold Super Fruits Mixed Berries
2/3 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp cornflour
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3 eggs
1 Tbsp butter

1. Defrost the berries in the microwave, then place the berries in a blend and blend until smooth. To ensure a smooth curd, remove the seeds by pressing the puree through a fine mesh sieve over a medium bowl. Throw the seeds out. You'll need a cup of seedless puree; anything extra can be kept in the fridge for another day.

2. In a saucepan, whisk together sugar and cornflour then stir in the puree, lemon juice and eggs. Over a medium heat, bring the puree to a boil, whisking constantly. Once at a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 minute, or until the curd is thick.
3. Once thick, remove from heat and whisk in the butter. Leave to cool slightly, before spooning into a container to cool further in the fridge. Refrigerate overnight before using.

Find our Orchard Gold Berries at all leading supermarkets
and don't forget to follow us on Instagram @orchardgoldberries

Email me when new posts are made to this blog

Simon's Blueberry Protein Pancakes

Written by Trisha on May 30th, 2014. 0 comments

Here's a great idea from Simon Cochrane, Ironman, for all our gym buddies looking for something new to do with your protein powders.

Topics: Blueberries, Orchard Gold, Simon Cochrane, Super Fruits

Simon's Epic Race in Tauranga

Written by Jason on January 7th, 2014. 0 comments

Simon Cochrane's first race of 2014 ...

Topics: Simon Cochrane, Sponsorship

Orchard Gold's new Smoothie Bike

Written by Trisha on December 18th, 2013. 0 comments

Topics: Orchard Gold, Simon Cochrane, Smoothie, Smoothie Bike

Orchard Gold featuring Simon Cochrane (Ironman) - opens up a world of flavour

Written by Jason on February 26th, 2013. 0 comments

We've been having fun making a video with Simon to show off the Orchard Gold packaging and its easy-to-open and reseal features.

Click here to take a look here and enjoy ...

Topics: Orchard Gold, Simon Cochrane

Simon Cochrane - Ironman - sponsored by Orchard Gold frozen berries

Written by Trisha on February 19th, 2013. 0 comments

Simon sent us some new pics recently - check these out.

Looking good!

Simon is racing in the Taupo Ironman this year on Saturday, 2nd March

We wish you all the very best Simon.

Topics: Simon Cochrane

Simon Cochrane, Ironman ... we're proud to be a Sponsor

Written by Trisha on September 19th, 2012. 1 comments

Today we welcomed Simon Cochrane, Ironman, at our office, to confirm Orchard Gold’s sponsorship of Simon over the next three years. Simon, who after some fantastic results around the world, turned professional earlier this year, is set for big things in the near future.

Pictured: Simon Cochrane, Miranda Ffowcs Williams, Jason Foord.

Orchard Gold Director, Jason Foord, says “Simon is a fine young athlete, with a hunger for success on the world stage and we see him as great ambassador for our products”.

We’ll be following his training and races with great interest and look forward to his regular updates.

Simon will also contribute some healthy berry recipes from time to time.

Topics: Simon Cochrane, Sponsorship

Email me when new posts are made to this blog

Simon's Blueberry Protein Pancakes

Written by Trisha on May 30th, 2014. 0 comments

Here's a great idea from Simon Cochrane, Ironman, for all our gym buddies looking for something new to do with your protein powders.

Topics: Blueberries, Orchard Gold, Simon Cochrane, Super Fruits

Simon's Epic Race in Tauranga

Written by Jason on January 7th, 2014. 0 comments

Simon Cochrane's first race of 2014 ...

Topics: Simon Cochrane, Sponsorship

Orchard Gold's new Smoothie Bike

Written by Trisha on December 18th, 2013. 0 comments

Topics: Orchard Gold, Simon Cochrane, Smoothie, Smoothie Bike

Orchard Gold featuring Simon Cochrane (Ironman) - opens up a world of flavour

Written by Jason on February 26th, 2013. 0 comments

We've been having fun making a video with Simon to show off the Orchard Gold packaging and its easy-to-open and reseal features.

Click here to take a look here and enjoy ...

Topics: Orchard Gold, Simon Cochrane

Simon Cochrane - Ironman - sponsored by Orchard Gold frozen berries

Written by Trisha on February 19th, 2013. 0 comments

Simon sent us some new pics recently - check these out.

Looking good!

Simon is racing in the Taupo Ironman this year on Saturday, 2nd March

We wish you all the very best Simon.

Topics: Simon Cochrane

Simon Cochrane, Ironman ... we're proud to be a Sponsor

Written by Trisha on September 19th, 2012. 1 comments

Today we welcomed Simon Cochrane, Ironman, at our office, to confirm Orchard Gold’s sponsorship of Simon over the next three years. Simon, who after some fantastic results around the world, turned professional earlier this year, is set for big things in the near future.

Pictured: Simon Cochrane, Miranda Ffowcs Williams, Jason Foord.

Orchard Gold Director, Jason Foord, says “Simon is a fine young athlete, with a hunger for success on the world stage and we see him as great ambassador for our products”.

We’ll be following his training and races with great interest and look forward to his regular updates.

Simon will also contribute some healthy berry recipes from time to time.

Topics: Simon Cochrane, Sponsorship