NZ Apricots product reviews

We love jam in our house, there are so many uses for it both as a spread, in dinner dishes and of course in baking! When my daughter was younger she was a bit allergic to berries which meant we choose to stop buying berry jams, it was just easier to have a jam that everyone could enjoy. Looking at the shelves at the supermarket trying to decide what to buy, I went with Barkers as the way they look makes them look a little bit more special and in a way gourmet. I also noticed that the recipe contained more fruit than it did sugar unlike many other brands so this was another selling point for me, you've gotta be pleased when you can get something yummy without all the added sugars!

We first used this apricot jam in the most good old fashioned way, on hot buttered toast, the flavours were really lovely and I loved the chunks of apricot I was getting and the fact the jam was easy to spread, Miss 3 was also a huge fan and for a week she would only have this on her sandwiches and toast!

The jam has been purchased several times since this and it has been used to make a apricot steamed pudding, quick and simple all I did was put a generous amount of the jam into the bottom of the pudding steamer and placed the sponge mixture of this, when it was cooked the jam ran beautifully down the sides of the pudding, and it tasted so so good. I was pleased with the results and loved that it melted well and still tasted great when heated. Another way I have used this jam in in the centre of jam drop cookies which again was really nice.

When it comes to buying jams Barkers are the only brand to buy these days as we feel they are made from top quality ingredients and fruit, and best of all they are made here in little ol' New Zealand!

Barker's has just got even better by adding more fruit and reducing the sugar in their jams. The New Zealand apricots preserve is just one of the improved range. I like that as a New Zealand company Barker's takes pride in using local produce where possible.

I love apricots and their versatility in both sweet and savoury dishes. This jam is just the right sweetness for me. You can see and feel the bits of apricot but it isn't such huge chucks that mean that you can't spread it evenly on your toast. They are small tender pieces that are easily chewed which is a nice change from some of the homemade jams I have had recently.

In order to show the versatility of this jam I searched for a recipe that was quite different from that other reviewer had used. I food Polynesian chicken. It used just three ingredients: chicken breasts, crushed pineapple and apricot jam. It was very quick and easy to prepare and most importantly was a huge hit with Miss 5 that tells me she hates chicken. I loved the sweet taste the jam and pineapple gave to the chicken and will definitely be making this dish again.

Thank you KIWIreviews for introducing me to another wonderful Barker's product.

I love apricot jam and as it has so many uses in baking, I love to keep a jar in my fridge...even if I'm not going through a phase of having jam on toast for breakfast. So when I was offered some of this Barkers jam to review, I was keen to taste it as I'm already a convert of their new low sugar range.

This jam is full of fruit and very obviously so and the reduced sugar does not affect the sweetness at all. The texture is that of a quality jam - nice and thick, but can be stirred if you wish - not like the cheap jams which feel like they are full of gelatine!

This made it the perfect jam to use for a glaze on the apple cake I made this week - I mixed it with hot water and it blended easily to be able to be brushed on my cake - fantastic!

I've also had this on toast quite a bit now - the flavour is a lovely subtle but definite apricot flavour - beautiful. I also plan to use it as a filling for the centre of muffins as it is nice enough to be able to eat on it's own, so would be perfect for this. This is a versatile quality jam that I believe is very very well priced for it's quality and I'll be sure to be buying this again.

Jam is not something I choose to eat often and apricot is not one I would normally buy to have on toast etc. When I buy apricot jam it is normally to use in recipes.

On first getting this I loved the idea that it was not a jam (had less sugar) but a fruit preserve. The packaging was smart and you could see through the jar that this was going to be smooth textured and full of flavour. It was a darker colour than normal apricot jam (more like pureed apricots).

I opened the jar and could immediately smell the apricot flavour. I spooned some out and loved the texture. I was surprised however of the sweetness. To me this was still sweet like jam but it was packed full of fruit flavour.

One of my favourite recipes with apricot jam is a chicken drumstick, courgette, curry and apricot jam. When I normally make this the taste of the apricot jam is very hard to separate but the jam I have always guessed has just sweetened the sauce (so have used other things to do this instead of the jam if I had non in the fridge). All I can say is Wow!! my recipes tastes so different using this preserve. Not as sweet but with the little bits of fruit pulp coming through gives a taste of apricots.

I found other uses for it also. This worked really well mixed with plain yoghurt, as a topping for ice cream and porridge. It also went well at xmas with a cheese platter. So not one I would normally buy but one with a lot of uses.

My husband has always enjoyed apricot jam, so when I was offered some Barker's jam to review I was quick to put my hand up for the apricot. I have had it on toast and crumpets as well as some homemade scones I did the other week. This is great with a bit of butter or cream.

The apricot jam itself is chunky with fruit. You can feel the chunks of fruit flesh in the jam. It's great to see so much fruit in a jam. I found the jam to be quite sweet despite the reduced sugar. When I have fresh apricots or dried ones I always find them sour and sometimes unpleasantly so. But I really enjoyed the balance of taste to this one. My husband has been very pleased to have apricot jam back in the house too.

Aside from using the jam as a spread, I have been using it in savoury ways. The first time around I used it with the plum jam in the range to make a stir fry sauce. The next time around, I omitted the plum jam and just used vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, pepper and apricot jam. The taste was great and I think almost better than when I had plum in there too.

I have used this as an addition in bread and butter pudding too. I spread the jam on the bread pieces so it was sandwiched in the bread layers. Then I poured the custard mixture on top and baked. The jam made a fabulous addition and was really tasty. So this is a great jam - sweet or savoury.

I am not normally a fan of dried apricots or normal apricots from the supermarket for that matter BUT I do LOVE a really nice apricot spread/preserve. However, I have tried several different brands at the supermarket and am yet to find one that isn't too sweet and overpowering. Most are crammed full of sugar to make it nice and sweet.

I opened my jar of Barkers New Zealand apricots and had a sniff. It didn't automatically give me a bit of a headache/sharp pain which said to me it can't be that sweet. I decided I would try it out on some pancakes with cream as lets face it, who doesn't love pancakes with a nice spread and jam. When taking my first bite I was actually highly surprised by how much it actually tasted like apricots, instead of an overpowering sugar taste. I took another bite and again it was great. The taste isn't overpowering, the spread isn't too sugary and what I liked even more was that the jar states that they have left out some sugar to cram in some more fruit which ticks all the boxes in my books.

I was impressed with the size of the jar. It is the perfect size to grab from the cupboard without fumbling because its an awkward size and or shape that you end up dropping it. The label was nice and eye catching not to mention simplistic, which looks great when on a shelf.

All in all an amazing spread that I will be using for a number of things. Next up scones with the spread and then I might even try some muffins and mix the spread into the icing yummy. Thanks Barkers for an amazing NZ product.

When I first requested this product to review I had a look at their website to see what they recommend I use it with and one of the suggestions was to mix it with yoghurt, I quite enjoy eating yoghurt but get sick of the usual flavours that you can buy at the supermarket so I couldn't wait for Barkers NZ Apricots to arrive so I could try it out.

When it arrived I was already prepared and had bought a tub of plain yoghurt, I scooped out 3 big tablespoons of yoghurt into a bowl and then added 3 teaspoons of the Barkers New Zealand Apricot fruit preserve. I tried to swirl it through nicely but I think the fruit preserve was a bit too thick so it kind of just stayed clumped together, I did manage to mix it through evenly with a bit more effort and it still looked delicious.

When my son (17 months) saw me making myself some yoghurt he immediately made me aware that he wanted some too so we shared the bowl I made. Well, actually he ate a bit more than half because he liked it so much and I had to make myself some more and eat it in secret.

Usually we only have raspberry or strawberry jam in our house so it was nice to have a different flavour to chose from when looking for something to add to my yoghurt or toast. I will definitely be buying this again to keep the variety.

When done the right way I am a fan of apricots, I don't like dried apricots but when added in well with something then I do really enjoy it.

Popping this open I gave it a taste as it was, on its own, and found that it had a rather nice taste, it wasn't too overly sweet but it also wasn't too tart so that worked out well enough that I would be happy to have this as it. I decided to try some of this just on a slice of bread with some margarine and I have to say that it rather surprised me just how much I liked it, and I don't usually like such jams etc on my bread, so that was a plus for this.

The one thing I simply have to eat at Christmas time are brandy snaps and I thought what better an opportunity to use the apricot than with my favorite holiday treat. The first batch that I did was to accommodate the kids and my family members who don't consume alcohol and so I whipped up some cream and stirred in a couple of tablespoons of the apricots into the cream. The adults gobbled the whole lot down, and whilst the kids didn't like the brandy snap part of the dish they all polished off the apricot. The second batch I did was 1/2c heavy cream blended with 1/6c icing sugar until whipped cream, then added a good 4tbsp of the apricots and 4tbsp of a rhubarb liquer, this was so yummy that I just wanted to eat it straight out of the bowl, forget about the brandy snaps.

I really liked this and I am sure to be buying it again in the future, both the taste and the texture were spot on.

As I said in another review of Barkers Blueberries and Cranberries Preserve we are huge jam eaters in this house having jam and toast for breakfast most days. We generally buy strawberry jam as it is my son's absolute favourite jam but I have always loved a good apricot jam. So when I seen this come up for review I was quite excited I have always loved barkers products having tried a lot of the chutneys which I absolutely love.

My 3 year old son had a try of this but was not really a fan of the apricot flavour being that he prefers berries. In saying that he doesn't really like apricots as a fresh fruit either so that could have something to do with it. This wasn't too much of a disappointment for me it just meant that there is more of this yummy jam for me to eat all by myself!! That won't be hard because it is sooo good!! It is jam packed with fruit and not too much sugar so you really feel like you are eating pureed apricots.

I love to have apricot jam with a little bit of philadelphia cream cheese on an english muffin for breakfast. Apricot and cream cheese is such a great combination and this preserve was no exception it made it feel like I was having a gourmet cafe breakfast in my own home. This could quite easily be a daily breakfast option if only the waist line would agree with me.

The other way I have used the preserve is to make little apricot jam tarts. I made my own pastry and filled the tarts with the apricot jam just by itself as a filling. As with my blueberry and cranberry review the tarts were a little over done but still tasted really really good and with a good dollop of cream you couldn't even tell they were over done. We had these over Christmas and all the family enjoyed them so the over cooked factor wasn't really too much of an issue.

The good thing was that the jam didn't become too runny or lose it's flavour from being cooked again inside the tarts so it still retained all of it's sweet apricot taste.