Wild about (wild) blueberries
Wild Blueberries
August is National Blueberry month in Canada and we’d be remiss if we didn’t call attention to one of our favourite little berries! Have you ever wondered why the blueberries in our Danish are so tiny, yet still pack a flavour punch? It’s because we use Canadian wild blueberries. You’re probably wondering what the difference is. Well, as I’m sure you’ve heard before, bigger is not always better!
When you think of wild fruit, you might think of foraging through the bushes or picking blackberries on the side of the road with a ‘one for me one for the bucket mentality.’ That’s not quite the same with these wild blueberries. Instead of being planted by farmers, these lowbrush berries are spread naturally by underground runners (rhizomes) with farmers maintaining the wild strands.
Wild blueberries also have some extra benefits over regular blueberries! Since these berries are smaller than their full-sized siblings, they have a higher skin to pulp ratio, which means more antioxidant-rich pigment. In fact, the wild ones have twice the antioxidant capacity of cultivated blueberries.
This also means less water in the berry, so they freeze (and thaw) better than their big brothers! While looks aren’t everything, we also think they’re prettier! Ever cut inside a blueberry? It’s not exactly blue inside!
So why do we actually use these pint-sized berries? They taste better! We use them in our Lemon and Blueberry Scone as well as our Wild Blueberry & Custard Danish, Wild Blueberry Teatime and our new Apple Berry Danish!
Want even more blueberries? (Of course you do.) Top our Wild Blueberry Danish with Blueberry Basil Gelato! Check out that meal idea plus 3 more frozen toppings for Danishes on our blog post!
Do you think wild blueberries taste better? You’ll have to try one of our Danishes to taste for yourself! Learn more about our Danishes baked fresh daily or find a local bakery to pick up Danishes for your next summer feast.
Want to learn more about the benefits of wild blueberries? Here’s where we got the skinny: