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!
 
Berry Butter with French Toast
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!
 
Blueberry Crumble Bars edited 2-683


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!
 
Berry curd with scones




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
 
 
 
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Doughnuts from Little and Friday's Kim Evans

Written by Blair on October 10th, 2012.      3 comments

For those of us fortunate enough to live in Auckland, Kim Evans' Little and Friday Cafes on the North Shore and in Newmarket tempt us willingly with treats such as doughnuts, lamingtons, cakes and tarts.    We also enjoy Kim's book "Treats from Little and Friday" - available in all good book stores.

Kim has shared her Doughnut recipe with us.  

 
Doughnuts with Raspberry and Cream

Recipe (makes 15)

Dough:
 
550ml milk
60g fresh yeast, crumbled, or 3 tsp dried yeast 
6 and a half cups of flour 
3 tsp salt
half a cup of caster sugar 
3 eggs 
140g unsalted butter
 
· In a saucepan, heat milk over a medium heat until lukewarm. Remove from heat and sprinkle over the yeast. Stir until yeast has dissolved.
· Place dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Using an electric beater with a dough hook attachment, mix at a low speed. If you do not have a beater, mix by hand to fully combine.
· Add yeast mixture and eggs to a bowl, continuing to mix at a low speed. Mix until a sticky dough forms.
· Stop mixer and scrape down dough from sides of bowl. Increase to medium speed and mix for a further 10 minutes until an elastic, shiny dough forms and pulls away from the bowl. If doing this by hand, tip dough onto bench and knead for 10 minutes.
· Cut butter into small pieces and gradually add to dough mixture, mixing until well combined.
· Cover bowl with a tea-towel and allow dough to prove until it has almost doubled in size. Tip dough onto a floured bench. It is now ready to use.
Kim Evans
Filling:
Half a cup of Raspberry Coulis  (see below)
Oil for frying 
2 and half cups of cream 
Icing sugar to coat
 
· Roll out dough on a floured bench to 4 cm thick. Using an 8 cm cookie cutter, cut out 15 circles.
· Allow dough to prove for 15-20 minutes, depending on weather. It will need less time if it is a warm day. You will know it is ready when a dry skin forms on dough.
· Pour oil into a large saucepan to 2 cm deep and heat to 180 degrees Celsius. To cook donuts accurately you need a thermometer. If you are not using one, heat the oil over a medium heat - once it starts smoking it is too hot.
· Depending on the saucepan size, drop several donuts at a time into the hot oil. You do not want them to touch or they will stick together. Cook for 2 minutes on each side. You want dough to be quite dark and crisp. Remove and allow to cool.
· Once cool, poke a hole into each donut with the handle of a teaspoon to create a cavity.
· Fill a piping bag with Raspberry Coulis and squeeze 1 tsp into each cavity.
· Use a clean piping bag to fill cavities with cream - fill each donut until it starts to expand.
· Dust each donut liberally with icing sugar.

For the raspberry couli mix 1 cup of Orchard Gold raspberries with 1-2 tablespoons of icing sugar in a saucepan and warm to dissolve the sugar and thaw the raspberries.    Strain into a small bowl to remove the seeds if preferred.  

 

Claire Turnbull's Berry Smoothie with Greens

Written by Jason on September 26th, 2012.      0 comments

Claire Turnbull from Mission Nutrition and Healthy Food Guide Nutritionist sent us this smoothie recipe she makes using Orchard Gold Blueberries.  It's become our new smoothie.

Berry Smoothie with Greens
  • 150mls trim milk

  • 100mls water (add more if needed)

  • 2 tablespoons of protein powder (vanilla is best) or 2 tsbp of vanilla yoghurt

  • ½ - ¾ cup ORCHARD GOLD blueberries

  • Handful of baby spinach leaves

  • 2 tsp ground LSA

Claire 1 1
Claire Turnbull, BSc (Hons) Dietetics UK,
NZ Registered Nutritionist
Managing Director of Mission Nutrition &
Healthy Food Guide Nutritionist

 

 
Email me when new posts are made to this blog

Doughnuts from Little and Friday's Kim Evans

Written by Blair on October 10th, 2012.      3 comments

For those of us fortunate enough to live in Auckland, Kim Evans' Little and Friday Cafes on the North Shore and in Newmarket tempt us willingly with treats such as doughnuts, lamingtons, cakes and tarts.    We also enjoy Kim's book "Treats from Little and Friday" - available in all good book stores.

Kim has shared her Doughnut recipe with us.  

 
Doughnuts with Raspberry and Cream

Recipe (makes 15)

Dough:
 
550ml milk
60g fresh yeast, crumbled, or 3 tsp dried yeast 
6 and a half cups of flour 
3 tsp salt
half a cup of caster sugar 
3 eggs 
140g unsalted butter
 
· In a saucepan, heat milk over a medium heat until lukewarm. Remove from heat and sprinkle over the yeast. Stir until yeast has dissolved.
· Place dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Using an electric beater with a dough hook attachment, mix at a low speed. If you do not have a beater, mix by hand to fully combine.
· Add yeast mixture and eggs to a bowl, continuing to mix at a low speed. Mix until a sticky dough forms.
· Stop mixer and scrape down dough from sides of bowl. Increase to medium speed and mix for a further 10 minutes until an elastic, shiny dough forms and pulls away from the bowl. If doing this by hand, tip dough onto bench and knead for 10 minutes.
· Cut butter into small pieces and gradually add to dough mixture, mixing until well combined.
· Cover bowl with a tea-towel and allow dough to prove until it has almost doubled in size. Tip dough onto a floured bench. It is now ready to use.
Kim Evans
Filling:
Half a cup of Raspberry Coulis  (see below)
Oil for frying 
2 and half cups of cream 
Icing sugar to coat
 
· Roll out dough on a floured bench to 4 cm thick. Using an 8 cm cookie cutter, cut out 15 circles.
· Allow dough to prove for 15-20 minutes, depending on weather. It will need less time if it is a warm day. You will know it is ready when a dry skin forms on dough.
· Pour oil into a large saucepan to 2 cm deep and heat to 180 degrees Celsius. To cook donuts accurately you need a thermometer. If you are not using one, heat the oil over a medium heat - once it starts smoking it is too hot.
· Depending on the saucepan size, drop several donuts at a time into the hot oil. You do not want them to touch or they will stick together. Cook for 2 minutes on each side. You want dough to be quite dark and crisp. Remove and allow to cool.
· Once cool, poke a hole into each donut with the handle of a teaspoon to create a cavity.
· Fill a piping bag with Raspberry Coulis and squeeze 1 tsp into each cavity.
· Use a clean piping bag to fill cavities with cream - fill each donut until it starts to expand.
· Dust each donut liberally with icing sugar.

For the raspberry couli mix 1 cup of Orchard Gold raspberries with 1-2 tablespoons of icing sugar in a saucepan and warm to dissolve the sugar and thaw the raspberries.    Strain into a small bowl to remove the seeds if preferred.  

 

Claire Turnbull's Berry Smoothie with Greens

Written by Jason on September 26th, 2012.      0 comments

Claire Turnbull from Mission Nutrition and Healthy Food Guide Nutritionist sent us this smoothie recipe she makes using Orchard Gold Blueberries.  It's become our new smoothie.

Berry Smoothie with Greens
  • 150mls trim milk

  • 100mls water (add more if needed)

  • 2 tablespoons of protein powder (vanilla is best) or 2 tsbp of vanilla yoghurt

  • ½ - ¾ cup ORCHARD GOLD blueberries

  • Handful of baby spinach leaves

  • 2 tsp ground LSA

Claire 1 1
Claire Turnbull, BSc (Hons) Dietetics UK,
NZ Registered Nutritionist
Managing Director of Mission Nutrition &
Healthy Food Guide Nutritionist

 

 

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