The easiest and most delicious berry recipes

Berries are super healthy and delicious. They are good sources of Vitamin C, fibre and antioxidants. Here are some recipes that show how easily you can enjoy eating berries. These berry recipes are simple and quick to prepare. They make quick and easy desserts or snacks

The beauty of this recipe is that it is so easy and delicious. It requires no eggs, and because you don't need a blender and just one bowl/pan to do the mixing in, you minimise washing up.

60 grams or 2 ounces of salt reduced butter

125mls or 4 fluid ounces of milk

1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 tablespoon of finely grated orange zest

¾ cup sugar

1 cup self raising flour

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 cup of cranberries

¾ cup sugar (for sauce)

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 and a 1/2 cups boiling water

You can also try this recipe with hulled sour cherries, instead of the cranberries. If you don’t have a fresh orange handy, you can use a teaspoon of orange essence instead.

Preheat a fan forced oven to 160 degrees C or 320 F. Grease one large baking dish or four individual serve pudding dishes. Arrange cranberries at the bottom of dish(es) and sprinkle with a little of the sugar. Melt the butter and milk over a stovetop and mix together. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Stir in orange rind, orange juice and sugar. Sift flour and cocoa and add to the butter and milk the mixture. Pour the mixture over the cranberries.

To make the sauce

If preparing four individual pudding bowls, mix extra sugar and cocoa in a separate bowl. Add boiling water to the cocoa and sugar and stir. Pour the mixture over the bowls.

If preparing the one serving dish, sprinkle sugar and cocoa directly over the dish, and then add the boiling water over the top. Don't worry if some of the cranberries rise to the top of the mixture once you have poured the water over them.

Bake the pudding uncovered in the oven. The large pudding dish should take around 30 minutes. The individual serve size pots will be ready in around 15 minutes. You can tell they are done when the centre of the pudding is firm, like a cake. The chocolate sauce will of course be runny.

Berry tarts

Use store bought short crust pastry, or make your own. Line a tray of greased muffin pans with the pastry. Prick with a fork and bake in an oven for 180C or 370F for around 8 minutes, or until lightly browned.

While pastry is baking make the sauce. Combine 3/4 cup of strawberry jam, 2 tablespoons of water, 2 tablespoon of fresh orange juice and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinamon. Heat, stirring ingredients in a pan until sauce is combined and smooth.

Pour sauce over warm pastry cases. Arrange berries of choice over pastry cases and top with a little more sauce. Allow to cool before serving.

Strawberries and cream

Strawberries and cream is a simple, but classic English recipe, loved by children and adults alike.

To prepare the cream:

Add three tablespoons of icing sugar to a cup of whipping cream. Whip until soft peaks form. Depending on taste, you may choose to omit the sugar during this step.

To prepare the strawberries:

Wash, dry and hull a punnet of strawberries. Cut the strawberries in half. If you are preparing this dessert for young children you may wish to chop the strawberries finely instead. Sprinkle a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar over them. This sounds like an odd combination, but the sourness of the vinegar brings out the sweetness of the strawberries. It’s similar to pancakes being served with lemon and sugar, the sweet and sour tastes complement each other.

Strawberries and cream look best served in glass bowls. Place a dollop of cream on the bottom of the dish, top with strawberries and more cream.

Strawberry and raspberry smoothie

200 grams (7 ounces) of raspberries

200 grams (7 ounces) strawberries

1 banana

1 1/2 cups of Milk

Honey to taste

Put all ingredients in a blender and combine. The smoothie makes a filling and healthy snack. It serves two.

Berry dessert sauce

This is a delicious sauce that can be used as a dessert topping. It works best with raspberries or strawberries.

Blend 1 punnet of berries with 2 tablespoons of icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice. For a stronger treat, use brandy instead of the orange juice.

This sauce can be served over ice cream, mixed in with yogurt or as topping on a fruit salad or cheesecake.

Blueberry pancakes

Firstly make the pancake batter.

1 cup of self raising flour, sifted

½ cup of sugar

1 egg

1 cup of milk

Mix flour, sugar and egg. Add the milk and beat until smooth. Cover and leave in the fridge for up to 12 hours. If you can’t wait the 12 hours, even one hour to let the mixture rest will make a difference to the end result. Melt butter in a frying pan. When the butter starts sizzling, pour the batter into the pan. Wait for the pancakes to start to cook, and whenthey have set slightly, arrange berries on each pancake. When bubbles start to appear on the surface of the pancake they are nearly ready to be turned over. However, please don’t turn them on the first bubble you see. Make sure they are really bubbling away before turning them.

Spread the pancakes with butter, sprinkle with sugar and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Alternatively, serve pancakes with vanilla Ice cream together with the berry sauce mentioned above.

Berries can be stored fresh or frozen.

They can be stored in the fridge. To increase their shelf life, remove them from their packaging. Place them in an airtight plastic container, in a single layer, sandwiched between paper towels.

The can also be stored in the freezer. Before freezing, wash, dry and hull them (remove the stem and leaves) if required. Place them in a zip lock bag. Most berries tend to freeze well. The exception is strawberries, which are best consumed fresh.