Early summer is a lovely time of year here in our orchard. The blueberry bushes have wintered well, and our first crops of fresh berries picked! Our story began with our home orchard in Omaha (Auckland, NZ) back in 2001. Since then, oob organic has grown a lot of fruit and achieved significant retail success however we enjoy immensely the feeling of going back to the uncomplicated pleasure of the orchard and sharing fresh, hand-picked summer berries.
The orchard currently grows approximately fifteen different varieties at our home orchard, ripening at various stages which means our picking season runs from November through until April. Our orchard door is scheduled to open on 20th December. For updates follow us here: https://www.instagram.com/oob.organic/
Blueberries have many well-documented health benefits; they are an excellent source of Vitamin C, low in calories, high in fibre and packed full of antioxidants and super versatile.
Blueberries are best when they are fresh-picked, and devoured at once! If you want your blueberries to last a little longer, you can freeze to preserve them, or pop them in the fridge so that they don't ripen too quickly.
If your blueberries start to look a little over-ripe, no worries; there is no need to waste them - chuck them in your favourite recipe. Here are three of the oob crews favourites:
Easy Blueberry Muffins:
Makes six generous sized muffins
Dry Ingredients:
2 2/3 cups flour
4 2/3 tsp baking powder - sift together
2/3 cup sugar
Add 1 1/3 cup oob organic blueberries to dry ingredients and mix evenly
Wet Ingredients:
2 Eggs - whisked
1 1/3 cup milk - add to eggs
Just under ½ cup Oil - add & whisk
Method:
Pour wet ingredients into dry. Stir gently with a spoon, careful not to over mix.
Divide evenly into a greased 6-cup muffin tray, and sprinkle the top of each muffin generously with a mixture of demerara sugar and cinnamon.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and bake for 35 minutes.
Blueberry, White Chocolate and Croissant Pudding:
This recipe is a firm favourite and decadent Christmas Day tradition for oob organic founder Shannon and her family. Once you see the ingredients, you’ll see why! The recipe was created by Lauraine Jacobs, published in her cookbook ‘Matakana’ (available in all good bookshops, or from her website) and she has kindly let us reproduce it here.
Ingredients
4 croissants
4 tablespoons butter
200gms fresh or frozen blueberries
100gms white chocolate, chopped
6 free-range eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of ground cinnamon
600mls whole milk
Icing sugar for dusting
Cream and ice cream to service
Method:
Butter a large ovenproof baking dish. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Slice the croissants thickly lengthwise (4-5 slices each croissant).
Butter each slice on one side, then place them in the dish overlapping slightly.
Scatter the blueberries and chocolate evenly over the croissant slices.
In a bowl, beat the eggs well with the sugar and cinnamon, then add the milk and beat again.
Carefully pour the batter over the croissants.
Press the croissants into the baking dish, making sure they absorb the batter.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the pudding is golden and puffed on top.
Sift with icing sugar and serve with cream and/or ice cream.
Easy Peasy Blueberry Jam:
Perfect for leftover blueberries that have become very over-ripe, this wee jam recipe is a winner, and a tried and tested method and favourite of our resident office superwoman, Jo!. This recipe is easily adjusted to halve or double the quantities to fit your blueberry situation. For a festive touch, grab some little jars and festive ribbon to make gorgeous Christmas gifts (especially tucked into a basket or tin of freshly-baked shortbread).
Ingredients
4 cups fresh oob organic blueberries
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Method:
Mix blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat.
Stir constantly and heat/cook for around 30 minutes or until thickened.
Pour into clean, sterile jars and allow to cool. Best stored in the fridge once opened.