California prunes are exhibiting at Foodies Festival in Tatton Park, Cheshire this weekend, from 17th-19th May!

Make sure you visit our stand and taste our delicious samples of California prune cheese, gelato, muffins and brownies! Chat to our California prune experts about that ways you use prunes in your cooking, and learn more about the surprising ways prunes can be used in sweet and savoury recipes!

Foodies Festivals showcase the finest in food, drink and culinary talent and we are thrilled to be part of it!

If you haven’t already, make sure you enter our competition to win a pair of tickets to the festival! You can find the details about how to enter on our twitter page @CaliforniaPrune and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/California-Prunes/109478355856874

It has been steadily rising for a few years now, but exploded in popularity after The Great British Bake Off … Yes, Britain’s baking obsession has never been so strong. As the show prepares to launch across the pond in the US, and more of us in the UK than ever are donning our aprons and reaching for the mixing bowl, we thought it was about time we took a look at the many ways California prunes can be used in baking. Some you may have already tried, some may seem surprising, but all, we guarantee, will taste delicious and will provide valuable fibre and vitamins. Even if you are already capable of creating a baked treat tasty enough to rival one of Mary Berry’s, we hope you will be inspired to try some of our ideas below. The possibilities are endless, but so that you have time to enjoy your creations with friends we have grouped our ideas in to three sections:

1) Chopped prunes

California prunes are available pre-chopped, or can be prepared yourself for extra big and juicy or extra fine pieces. These can be incorporated in to recipes for any number of baked treats and as California prunes are available all year round, used in a number of seasonal dishes.
We love using chopped pieces in scones along with other dried fruits. If you are making gluten-free scones, prunes are fine to incorporate too – which is lucky, as we wouldn’t want you missing out. Welsh cakes and oatmeal cookies also work brilliantly with this quick to prepare and easy to store wonder ingredient.

2) Prune purée

This incredible ingredient can be used just like butter when used in baking. Because of the juicy and moist texture, when puréed, prunes take on a fat-like characteristic. This means that they can be used in place of some of the fat when baking but none of the moisture of a traditional recipe is sacrificed! Prune purée is perfect to use in dishes requiring a softer texture. Brownies, chocolate cake and muffins are all great options. As using the purée will not alter the texture or flavour, you can also sneakily incorporate it in to cakes for kids, or friends who are unwilling to try the fruits (which, as we all know, once sampled are subsequently impossible to resist!).

3) Savoury

Chopped prunes can be used in a number of savoury creations. Try topping your pizza with prunes or mixing them in to the dough base. Incorporate them in to a cheese loaf or even try them in a quiche!

Tempted to give one of these a go? If so we would love to hear from you! You can write to us or send a picture (we would love that!) via Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/California-Prunes/109478355856874?ref=hl , twitter: @CaliforniaPrune or e-mail: info@cpbeurope.eu.com

After the recent reports on how much food is needlessly thrown away each year, we have put together a short guide on the many ways California prunes can be used in cooking. These multiple uses, coupled with the fact that prunes can stay fresh for a long time when stored correctly, means you will never be at a loss for what to do with any of this leftover super –ingredient!

Blend leftover prunes in to any smoothies you make, to take advantage of the vitamins they contain and their sweet flavour

Chop up leftover prunes and use them to top your cereal or porridge. This will add sweetness, but is a healthier option than using sugar!

Blend up leftover prunes with water to make a prune purée. This purée can then be used in place of some butter when baking. Because prunes are so juicy, all of the moisture of a traditional recipe will be maintained, but a great deal of fat and saturated fat will be cut out. Why not try this in brownies or muffins?

Using leftover prunes in meat-based dishes is a great way to retain juiciness and appeal. Prunes work excellently in everything from lamb tagine to  pork spring rolls. They can also be used to add weight and texture to vegetarian dishes

To really make an impression when cooking dinner for friends, why not add some prunes to your cheese board?

As California prunes are so sweet, juicy and delicious, you can of course just eat them as a snack! And don’t forget, just three provides you with one portion of your five a day

As California prunes are the highest quality in the world, you can be sure that all of these uses are will achieve excellent (and  delicious!) results.

We would love to hear what you use your left over California Prunes for. It you have any suggestions then e-mail them over to us and we will make sure we add them on. If you try any of our suggestions out then we would also love to hear how they turned out, so feel free to post away on our Facebook page and upload pictures!

We have been very busy recently spreading the word about California Prunes and all they have to offer!

After exhibiting at The Big Feastival from 1^st -2^nd September we then visited The Universal Cookery and Food Festival in Cobham, Surrey on 12^th September. This event is organised in association with the Craft Guild of Chefs and aims to show visitors how farmers, food producers, chefs and food lovers are uniting together to create new opportunities and better solutions for the food we eat.

It does this by providing visitors with opportunities to meet top chefs and experience an exciting mix of food, drink and culinary talent.

The day offered a range of activities; from foraging tours to demonstrations of cheese making. It succeeded in providing an insight into where our food comes from and prompting visitors to consider new ways of using different foods.

Our tasty prune California Prune gelato, cider brandy soaked prune Cheese from Cricketer’s Farm and California Prune and Chocolate brownies were sampled from a market stall within the event’s Farmer’s Market. Yet again, these were all extremely popular and we would like to thank you not only for visiting us, but for your inspiring enthusiasm about the products.

If you were at either of these festivals we would love to hear your feedback about the day and our products! Do get in touch by tweeting us @Californiaprunes or posting on our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/California-Prunes/109478355856874?ref=ts

The prune harvest in California is now in full swing and the great news is that thanks to good weather during the growing season and harvest, the prunes are certain to be of a high quality.

The harvest should last several weeks and is expected to yield a large selection of prunes, which will be slightly smaller in size than last year’s crop.

More can be read here:  http://bit.ly/Qg4DiM

Jamie Oliver’s Big Feastival is just over two weeks away and we are really looking forward to sampling our California Prune treats!

New musical and children’s entertainment has just been added to The Big Feastival line up as well so the excitement is building! Visit http://www.jamieoliver.com/thebigfeastival/news/ to find out more.

We have really enjoyed chatting to you all at the food festivals we have visited so far this summer and are looking forward to speaking to more of you at Big Feastival. One of the things we have been really impressed with is the creative ways you all incorporate California Prunes into your diet – some of you work them in to the most delicious sounding dishes! We would really like to hear more of your suggestions so feel free to post them on our facebook page which can be found at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/California-Prunes/109478355856874

Thank you to all who attended the Foodies Festival at Bristol Harbourside a couple of weeks ago. We were lucky to enough to have the lovely Debbie – the store manager from Holland & Barrett Bristol - to help us with our sampling over the weekend and despite the weather (yet again) our California Prune treats went down a storm, with gelato, energy bars and brownies being a complete sell out!

If you didn’t manage to come and try our California Prune treats in Bristol we will be at Jamie Oliver’s Big Feastival on 1st and 2nd September (Kingham, Oxfordshire) . The Big Feastival is fun for all the family and is a collection of food and drink stalls and live music, with your chance to camp over the weekend, so don’t forget the tent pegs!

California Prunes will be sampling all our culinary delights including the very popular chocolate and prune brownies.

To buy tickets go to  www.jamieoliver.com/thebigfeastival

After the success of Tatton Park last weekend, we cannot wait to exhibit at the Foodies Festival in Bristol Harbourside from Friday 13^th July  to Sunday 15^th July. 

If you are in the area, pop down to sample some of our California Prune brownies, energy bars or smoothies. We will also have some more of our delicious mature cheddar containing prunes soaked in cider brandy and, come rain or shine, we will be serving up samples of our delectable prune gelato!

Ensure you pick up one of our recipe cards as well, so that you can continue to enjoy a whole host of sweet and savoury prune treats even after you leave for the day. 

Tickets are still available, so visit www.foodiesfestival.com or call 0844 995 1111.

A big thank you to everybody who came and visited us at Foodies in Tatton Park over the weekend! It was a great event – regardless of the weather! The recipe for the tasty California Prune Energy bars that we were sampling  is below:

Ingredients

225g rolled oats

25g linseed

25g pumpkin seeds

60g prune puree

60g chopped California Prunes

90g vegetable oil

50g chopped stem ginger

100g runny honey

To make the prune puree (makes 275g)

Blend 225g stoned California Prunes with 90ml (6tbsp) water in liquidiser until pureed. Left over puree can be kept in fridge for up to a week and blended into California Prune Smoothie.

To make the energy bars (makes 6-8 bars)

• Heat the oils, honey, California Prunes and prune puree in a saucepan until runny.
• Mix the oats, linseed, pumpkin seeds and ginger.
• Spread in a shallow tray to a depth of 1cm.
• Bake at 180 degrees C for 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, allow to cool and cut into 4cm slices.

Recipe supplied by S C Price & Sons

California Prunes will be exhibiting at Foodies Festival in Tatton Park between 6^th-8^th July. 

Foodies is the number one summer food and drink festival offering an exciting mix of food, drink and culinary talent.

Come and visit California Prunes on our star pagoda for the opportunity to sample a range of tasty treats including cheese with prunes soaked in cider brandy and prune gelato – a delicious lower fat alternative to ice cream! We will also be serving prune brownies and fresh prune and mango smoothies.

You will also be able to find out just how easy it is to incorporate prunes in to your diet and home-cooking, as well as picking up some delicious recipe suggestions.  

We hope to see you there! Tickets are available from www.foodiesfestival.com or by  calling 0844 995 1111.