Home > Categories > Food > Spreads > Pic's Really Good Boysenberry Jelly review
Pic's Peanut Butter has met its match with our really good jelly.
What are the peanut butter makers doing messing around with berries? Making jam, that's what - but we don't call it jam because it hasn't got enough sugar. What it has got though, is boysenberries.
Glen and Maree, from Tasman Bay Berries, grow boysenberries. Lots of boysenberries. In fact, Nelson is the boysenberry centre of the Universe. Glen & Maree's farm is just down the road from the Pic's Peanut Butter World in the heart of Stoke. We are super lucky and get to eat them fresh in December, it's a Kiwi tradition of packing ice cream tubs full of juicy pick-your-own berries. But the rest of the world hardly ever sees them, which is a pity as they are extraordinarily nutritious and boysenberries go really well with peanut butter.
What is in Pic's Boysenberry jelly? Boysenberries (grown in Nelson) 55%, cane sugar; lemon concentrate, pectin.
• Once opened, keep our jelly in the fridge
• Stirring our jelly makes it runny so if you prefer a firmer spread, scoop it out gently with a spoon.
Product reviews...
We saw Pics really good boysenberry up for review and we had to put our hands up as a berry loving family. We eat a lot of Berry's in this house and I thought this could be a lovely spread.
We received the Pics boysenberry jelly and my daughter was first to grab and look. The purple packaging drew her attention. It is definitely an eye-catching colour Nd works well with the brownish label. I started looking over the label. Things all looked good. No nasty ingredients that I had no idea what they were and low sodium and sugar. Love the low sugar and also the statement on the bottle that it's not jam because it doesn't have enough sugar. Any way to limit sugar in our diets is good with me.
We opened the bottle and there was a lovely boysenberry smell. I was thinking this is going to be great. We tried a bit each. My son was a "no" straight away. He was not a fan at all. My daughter said it was yummy, but an ok yummy. Me, well I found it a little sweet for my liking. I liked the taste but I definitely couldn't eat a lot of it.
Due to the fact that I would use it rather sparingly, I think it would last a while. Therefore the jar of 340g is good value for money. And at $5 a jar I think this is a really reasonable price for a good quality jam/jelly. I liked the flavour of the Pics boysenberry jelly but found it rather sweet. I will be using it sparingly on the morning toast. If you love boysenberry then this jelly is probably for you. It is a product I will probably purchase once in a while when I want a change.
I have always been a big fan of Pic's nut butter varieties, choosing them simply because of their honesty about their ingredients and not using much other than the nuts themselves. When I saw this new product I just had to try it, and luckily enough I received one in my most recent review parcel (although I honestly would have gone and bought it to try had I not received one!).
I really love the labelling on the Pic's jars. When you see it you know exactly what it is. It is simple, but striking. The information you need is there and easy to see, and I love the font that they use for their name, including the little heart on the I. It really says to me that this is a company that has thought a lot about their brand and how they want it to come across to the public, and it makes me believe they have really thought about their product and what they are providing.
I know it is a bit cliche but I really did want to try this product for one reason, and one reason only - peanut butter and jelly on toast! Well, I call it peanut butter and jam because I'm not American, but we'll go with jelly since this product is called a jelly. This name did give me a certain picture in my head of what this product would be like, and I must be honest in that it wasn't what I was expecting. I imagined something quite jelly like, a solid wobbly type consistency but it certainly isn't that. In fact it is quite runny. I went with it, picking some up with my knife and spreading it across the top of the peanut butter. The consisency of it actually made it easy to spread, and able to be spread without having big thick clumps across the toast. This was definitely a plus for me, as not only is the product itself lower in sugar than the jams I would usually use, I was actually able to use less of it if I wanted. When smelling the product it is very easy to get the idea that there isn't a lot of sugar used as it definitely doesn't smell as sweet as a traditional jam.
Once the toast was spread with both the Pic's peanut butter and the Pic's boysenberry jelly I just had to sink my teeth in. Oh my - it was absolutely delicious! A match made in heaven!!! Even though there isn't a lot of sugar used in this product, the berries and the small amount of cane sugar was enough sweetness to come out above the savory taste of the peanut butter. I have tried many different varieties of peanut butter and jam in my life, but this certainly takes the cake for my favourite combination! These two products will now always have a place, side by side in my fridge!
In this house we are HUGE peanut butter fans, and although my kids do not really like PB & J sandwiches, they are a total flashback to my youth!! I was delighted to see Pics and done a jelly/jam alongside their amazing and totally delicious nut but!
Upon receiving the jar, I took a look and was pleased to note that the graphics and packaging make it immediately recognisable as a Pic's product - meaning no confusion on the supermarket shelf. I love that it is a glass jar that can be reused - awesome! having a look at the ingredients, I was delighted to see that it is not full of things I cannot pronounce, and actually has a good percentage of fruit - as that is a big concern with jams!
My first try was straight from a spoon - I mean, how could I not - that dark purpley jelly really pulled me in (the jam made me do it??) and I was not disappointed - it was absolutely delicious. Full of flavour, not too sweet, some little chunks of fruit but not too "lumpy" for my fussy children! Next I read the recipe card supplied for Boysenberry Brownies, and upon showing my daughter - decided that that was going to be our baking for her to take to camp. I tried it on some hot cross buns first - delicious, and then with cheese for the whole fruit and cheese type idea - again - not disappointed. I have a feeling mixed through yoghurt would be delightful too!
So onto the brownie. The recipe card was a really cool idea, and I will definitely be making it again! It was pleasing to know that the jelly did not contribute heaps more sugar to the brownies either. The instructions were simple and easy, with ingredients you would usually have in the house. While we were making the brownie - my eldest (not a jelly/jam lover at all) asked to try it and immediately suggested it may go well on plain icecream! Another use. The brownie came out of the oven smelling amazing, and the taste test - well - yum yum yum - definitely a thumbs up and I WILL be making it again!
Thanks Pic's - so neat to know you are not far from me - I really want to do the factory tour at some point and see where your amazing products are made. Well done - this jelly is amazing and perfect for more than just a PB&J sandwich!!
I have two girls who love a good jam so they were very happy when we got this and I told them that they could just dig in and use it whenever they wanted to (so long as it wasn't too close to dinner of course). I, myself, used to love jams and jelly's until I got sick and tired of seeds and pulp, so I was very happy to see that this is nice and smooth with no bits in it. The packaging is attractive and keeps in line with their range of peanut butters, so there was no mistaking what company this belongs to at all. I did find it a little dark, since the jelly is so dark, so my only suggestion would have been a slightly lighter purple on the label.
Opening this up we noted that it was a bit runnier than other jams/jellies that we have had but were surprised that when we tried it, the texture didn't feel thin and runny. We each tried a little on a spoon first and I found it had a lovely flavour and wished this had come along sooner. My son said it was nice but not his kind of spread whilst both my girls declared it 'yummy as' and wanted to make all sorts of things with it. Their first choice of use was as a sandwich, which then upgraded to crackers and then they were dunking their oreos in the jar! My youngest decided a dollop of this should go on her weetbix and she loved the blueberry milk that led to, whilst my middle thought it would be great on her ice-cream.
Plenty of uses, lovely taste, I can see we will be buying this.
When it comes to peanut butter, Pic's leads the way. We, as a family, eat so much, preferring the taste and texture. However, I have to admit that I was a little surprised to see that their latest product, whilst still being a spread, was a jelly and not a butter. Coupled with that, the choice of boysenberry, in my opinion the greatest berry, was not an obvious one. That is why I was so keen to try this Pic's Boysenberry Jelly, with both intrigue and huge anticipation.
When I received the jar, I was really pleased to see the packaging was similar to that of their butters. Quality glass jars and great information on the label is most definitely a great pre-cursor sign of quality, and this one does not disappoint. To learn why they have decided to go with boysenberry from the pack was a real treat, and to know that 55% of the jelly was NZ boysenberries, I was really excited to dive in.
I have to admit that the first try of this product was spooned straight from the jar and into my mouth. The taste was amazing- sweet but tangy with a really intense boysenberry flavour. The texture was definitely on the looser side, however nowhere near as runny as I was expecting, and still easily spreadable. I then branched out to smothering it on toast. The tangy, juicy sweetness was perfect, and the jelly stayed perfectly on the toast despite it being hot, which I had been concerned about. It certainly took my normally mundane breakfast to new heights.
When I, eventually, let the rest of the family try the jelly, they were all as in love as I was. We have all commented that this is the tastiest spread we have ever tried. Getting a whole family approval is quite a rare event, but something that this spread has easily achieved. Given that it is higher in fruit and has only four ingredients, I also feel much happier knowing this is a product much like I would make myself.
I have since tried this jelly in multiple scenarios, and not once has it failed. Particularly successful was it spread thickly onto croissant, where the texture allowed it to seep wonderfully into the cracks and crevices of pastry, the boysenberry tang cutting through the buttery richness. We also really enjoyed it mixed through natural yoghurt and honey as an easy and light post-dinner treat. It was also a perfect topping to a boysenberry cake and made wonderful jam tarts.
As I should have expected, Pic's has, once again, raised the bar with this product. High-quality, versatile and just downright delicious, this is a product you will want in your pantry. I literally cannot fault this jelly, and it will have a permanent home in our staple food items. Bravo Pic's, you are the pride of Nelson and of New Zealand.
I was delighted to see that this product comes in a good sized jar because I was looking forward to trying it in several different ways - and I did! When I saw that it was low in sugar, I was wondering if it would not be sweet enough, having tried some "diet" jams and jellies in the past and found them to be quite sour. However, I need not have worried. This product is very similar to the ripe fruit in sweetness, with a strong fruit flavour coming through. In fact, it was so nice that, after I had tasted a spoonful on its own, I could easily have finished the whole jar without any further testing at all!
One of my friends had just brought me some cheese scones, so we had one each with jelly and sour cream on top. This was a variation on the usual Devonshire tea scones, and both of us thought we preferred this version. The cheese content was a perfect match for the fruit, resulting in a much more intense flavour burst, so we ended up having seconds! Next day I tried the jelly on some pikelets; they were delicious too although I did prefer the cheese scone combination.
My daughter and I had some leftover cold roast beef so we used a little jelly instead of a savoury pickle as a condiment. It was perfect; I am going to try this product next time I have leftover chicken as well. Fruit goes so well with cold meat. I often put fruit like apricots or plums into casseroles, but I can see that a spoonful of jelly might be nice used this way. And finally, I spooned some over our dessert (icecream and stewed apple), and again, that was very nice indeed. I love the versatility of this product, and the way one jar has lasted through so many different uses.
As this is a product made by a company whose nut butters are already in use in my household, I made sure to try out the various ways I could use them with the jelly. My absolute favourite was boysenberry jelly and cashew butter on smooth rye bread - it was a good thing I used up the last of the cashew butter in the process as this was a stunning blend and I could have just kept eating. I did not need to butter the bread first as the cashew butter and boysenberry jelly combination was sufficient.
I am planning to get another jar as I want to try it with pancakes and also as a sponge cake filling with fresh whipped cream. In fact, there are lots of possibilities for this product. I am looking forward to trying quite a few more.
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