NZ Blueberries with Cranberries product reviews

I Love Barkers jams and I'm slowly making my way through the range, when I saw Blueberries and cranberries jam up for review I jumped at the chance. While I'm not a huge fan of cranberries I love blueberries and eat them a lot when in season.

First thing I did when I got my jar was crack it open for my favourite nice hot toast with jam. At first bite I was sold it was so fresh and fruity with just a touch of sweetness, it was the perfect blend. I loved the nice smooth texture of the jam and the fact there was no big lumps.

The next day I was doing baking and made old fashion nana's cheesecakes and usually I won't put any other jam in them apart from raspberry but I decided to try some of the blueberries and cranberries one. Once again it tasted yum and the blueberries and cranberries ones were they first to be eaten. Everyone commented they weren't quite as sweet as the jam I usually used and they liked that.

The one thing I really love about Barkers jams it they are now made with more fruit and less sugar. They have more of a homemade jam than most brought jams. Those the barkers is a bit more expensive then none brand named jams it is worth every cent.

I am not a jam person, it's not that I don't like the flavors, I do, but the few ones that I do like the flavor of tend to have either seeds in them or they are far too sweet. The great thing about review things through this sight is even if I don't like an item I haven't spent much on it, so I finally decided to give this a try. The label on the jar is a nice, classic design that shows off the product nicely and really suits the aim of the product and it catches my eye easily.

I asked my kids what we should make and they asked for pancakes, I didn't want to stick about flipping them, they never do well, so we went for piklets (though they did end up looking more like mini pancakes in the end. lol) and the kids dumped in a couple of teaspoons worth of the Blueberries with Cranberries and stirred it through. Once cooked there was a nice subtle taste added to the piklets, so next time I would add more. To enhance it a bit more I plopped some on top and handed the kids four each. My eldest and youngest devoured them, with my youngest asking for more (pretty big for her), whilst my five year old stated that it needed less jam on top.

On its own, it is delicious, though I wouldn't have it on too thick, this was a hit with the kids though, it's a nice smooth jam and I could see us buying it again.

We have been trying out these new Barkers Jams lately and love the fact that they have greatly reduced sugar levels and more fruit. I don't normally go for cranberries, but do love blueberries so was keen to see what this jam would taste like.

I was pleased to find it was nice and sweet, but not too sweet and that like the other Barkers jams is thick with fruit and has a nice smooth texture. In fact I noticed that it is super nice just eaten straight from the jar... although I shall resist doing that too much! What this means though, is that it can be used in so many different ways - one way I'm yet to try is just dolloping it in the middle of muffins as a surprise centre - I can see it lending itself to this beautifully.

Today I decided to add it as an extra layer in the weetbix slice I made - it worked beautifully under the chocolate icing, and as you can see from the photo, an extra blueberry on top gives it a nice finishing touch - yum. The uses are endless... I've yet to venture into savoury options but I imagine it would work well with cheeses etc too.

I've also been enjoying this on my toast for breakfast and I am certainly noticing the quality of this jam - it feels way more home made than many other jams on the market. And yet it is still a great price, so I'll certainly be buying this again.

This product I wanted because I like cranberries, but they are hardly ever available fresh, so jams are the next best thing. Secondly, I wanted this product because cranberry sauce/jam is my favourite addition to most of my meals now ('Ocean Spray' has always been the first and only cranberry sauce I'd eat).

As with other Barkers preserves, this product has a great consistency that makes it so easy to spread. So you don't have to worry about overdoing it, of getting an uneven amount, because the product is much easier to control. My plan of action was to substitute it into the position that the 'Ocean Spray' sauce has always held; as a sauce for turkey, chicken, and in sandwiches.

Christmas having just passed, I got a great deal on turkey, and roasted one up. Unlike the 'Ocean Spray. brand, which is very high in sugar, the Barkers jam is high in flavour, and provides a very intense taste. It went well with the two meats, but only in small quantities. For a better flavour with the meat, it needed to have some garlic, ginger, and chilli peppers added, to compliment the tartness of the jam.

What it does do best, however, is work with bread. It is a great topping on your toast, or add it to a sandwich with chicken and cheese (brie or vintage cheddar work best). So despite me maybe not using it to much as a standalone with meat, it most certainly will be going in my sauces and sandwiches in the future.

I was interested to see what a blueberry and cranberry jam would be like. Cranberries are often pretty sour, but blueberries are not as sour and often lend themselves towards being sweet and juicy. Add to that, this jam is more fruit than sugar and I thought it would be pretty tasty. And I wasn't wrong.

The first thing I did with this jam was to add it to a New Years Eve cocktail. I diluted the jam in a little hot water to make a syrup. You could tell as you spread the jam around the bowl that it was more fruity. It had lots of bits in it. Once it cooled, then I added it to a mason jar with some Good Buzz Booch, some vodka and Cointreau. It made a pretty good Cosmo.

The next day we did scones and I had to try the jam with cream and scones. Again, fruity fleshy to spread, and super tasty. I really liked this jam. It had great flavours, and I would happily add it to my breakfast menu. I can see that it would be great added as a ripple through cake batter or as a muffin filling with cream cheese.

Given it has cranberry as well, I would also love to play with it's savoury opportunities. I'm sure it would make a good side dipping sauce with the right additions for chicken nuggets or as a glaze for chicken. You could even use it to combine a stuffing mix for chicken. So many yummy ways to enjoy!

We are huge jam eaters here as toast is normally our breakfast of choice especially the kids. My 3 year old son loves jam and has it almost every day with the occasional peanut butter day. When it comes to jam I will admit I am quite fussy I don't like a lot of pips in the jam like raspberry tends to have but I like to be able to see that it is indeed made with real fruit so I like to buy quality jams and pay a little more to know that they are made with quality ingredients.

This jam/preserve really appealed to me as I love plums, blueberries and cranberries and had never tried a jam of this variety before. The first way we tried it out was on toast for breakfast, a good test as my son gobbled it all up with no queries as to why it was different to his normal plain strawberry jam. I have to admit mine barely lasted seconds either it was so good. I loved the combination of the three fruits and considering how much fruit was used it wasn't overly sweet which you can get with the high sugar content in some jams.

A true test for me of whether a jam stands up is a little bit weird I like to have cheese wedges dipped in jam. A lot of people think that is rather strange but I dare you to try it it is honestly so good and was such a treat when I was little. This jam makes a great cheese combo as it is not overly sweet so it makes a good match like having cheese with fresh fruit.

The other thing I did with the jam/preserve was to make louise cake tarts, I had to settle for mini tarts over a full louise slice as I just didn't want to use up all the remaining jam in one go. The jam makes a great alternative to the traditional raspberry jam in louise cake which I am just not a fan of this is so much better. And as you bite into the louise tart you can see the resemblance of real berries in the jam making them seem that little bit more healthy and fresh.

The only thing I failed with in making these as you can see in the photo was that I didn't adjust the cooking time and cooked them for the whole time a whole slice would cook for rather than mini tarts so they ended up a little over done. Hence the rather embarrasing photo :(

My six year old loves blueberries so she was delighted to see Barker's Blueberries with Cranberries Preserve. Ironically we were given a jar of homemade blueberry jam only a couple of days later. The homemade jam was more appealing to her at first as it had a frilly fabric over the top. She commented that she could see the big blueberries in homemade one but preferred the smooth texture of Barker's one.

I expected a jam containing cranberries would either be tart or full of sugar (to remove the tartness) but Barker's was neither. It was surprisingly low in sugar but was but it didn't compromise the flavour. I really enjoyed both the fruity taste and the smooth texture of the jam.

I used some of the jam to make jam drops. I remember my grandmother making these biscuits for us using jams she had made using fruit from her garden. This meant that Barker's and my baking had a tough challenge to compete with my childhood memories. We did it. The jam did really well both heated (the smell from the oven was mouthwatering) and cooled. It was high praise that at the same time I made some with Nutella instead of jam but everyone preferred the jam ones.

The thing I liked best about this jam was that it was full of fruit and sugar was minimised. The downside of this was that once the jar is opened it needs to be stored in the fridge. This wasn't an issue for us as we keep our jams in the fridge anyway to prevent ant invasions and so they are within reach for the kids to make their own toast. At the moment our fridge door has a row of lovely Barker's jams.

I am expecting that Miss 6 will be choosing this jam whenever it is her turn to chose a jam. I am happy for her to do so as it is healthier than most jams and I love the taste too.

I love a good jam and really enjoy blueberries and cranberries, the only time I have had these together is when I bake my fruit mince pies and its good. I had to give this jam a go and by jolly its good, the taste of it is so full of flavour that I can taste the blueberries and cranberries while I had it spread on my toast. As I love baking I gave this a go in my Christmas fruit mince pies, adding 4 teaspoons of this into the mixture it gave it a beautiful fruit taste it brought the blue berries out more from the first lot I made with a different jam.

The smell of the jam is so good and powerful you can almost taste it before putting it on toast or well just eating it from the jar (did I say that?), yes I admit eating it from the jar did start. I love that the sweetness is from the fruits themselves not artificial sweeteners and the bonus for my daughter is its gluten free so she can enjoy it on toast too as her favorite fruit is blueberries. With the way its going in my house its not going to last long so might be a little while before I get to buy another jar as its a bit more expensive than I can afford on a low wage. If I have spare money then this will end up in my trolley thats for sure, actually it will prob end up in there anyway its too good not too, you need to try this yourself you wont regret it.