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Strawberry Dust Sponge

Posted on by Emma Hook

Earlier this year we spotted the wonderful Zoe on Instagram, she’s always creating beautiful things so check out her page!

We reached out to Zoe and asked if she’d kindly like to get creative with some freeze-dry products & the results were amazing. It’s taken us WAY too long to share these recipes but we promise the wait was worth it… first up, Strawberry Dust Sponge with Blueberry White Chocolate Chantilly.

 

 

 

Strawberry Dust Sponge w Blueberry White Chocolate Chantilly

Strawberry Sponge

100g Plain Flour (You can totally use GF flour here.)

15g Strawberry Dust (You could use any freeze dried dust)
½ tsp Baking Powder

4 Eggs

120 Caster Sugar

75 Melted Butter (that’s cooled slightly) (You can also use DF butter)

  • Preheat the oven to 180*c
  • Place the Eggs and Caster Sugar in your electric mixer. Mixing on the highest speed for 15 minutes. It will have tripled in volume, thickened and be pale in colour. 
  • Sift the Flour, Strawberry Dust and Baking Powder into your thickened mix. Gently fold through ideally with a metal spoon that has some holes. Lastly add the cooled Melted Butter and fold through until combined. 
  • I suggest putting a ring of baking parchment around the edge of the tins, some Butter on the sides of the tins will allow it to stick. Divide the batter between to round tins. Don’t tap the tins to make smooth on top, use a palette knife, we want to keep as much air in as possible. 
  • Bake for 16-18 minutes. It will be done when its springy to the touch and slightly golden on top. Once baked remove carefully from the tin and allow to cool completely. 

Blueberry White Chocolate Chantilly

500g Cream

150g White Chocolate

20g Blueberry Dust (You can use any free dried dust here too)

  • Gently heat 200g of the Cream to just below boiling point.
  • Add the White Chocolate and stir until its all melted. 
  • Add this mixture to the Cream and Blueberry Dust. Allow to cool completely.
  • Once cooled, whip until soft peaks form. 

Assembly

100g Sugar Syrup

  • To make this you simply add 100g Caster Sugar and 100g Water. Heat until the Sugar is dissolved.

Extra Freeze Dried Fruit 

  • Slice your cakes in half. You will then have 4 layers.
  • Alternate between Cake, Sugar Syrup, Blueberry White Chocolate Chantilly and a sprinkling of Freeze Dried fruits between the layers as well. 
  • Once you get to the final layer. Spread the rest of the Blueberry White Chocolate Chantilly on top. Clean the side with a palette knife or the flat side of a Dough Scraper. This gives us the naked cake look. Sprinkle some Freeze Dried Fruit on top. Enjoy. If not eating straight away it can be stored in the fridge & also freezes extremely well for those late night treats. 

Meet the Maker

We’ve pinched this little blurb about Zoe from this Facebook post from the Three Mills Bakery in Canberra.

From the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Zoe joined the Three Mills Bakery family this year as their in-house chef and gluten free expert. She has also been collaborating on the Beyond Bread & Butter cook book.

Zoe has worked in prominent restaurants and establishments such as 3 hatted Attica in Melbourne and 2 Michelin star ‘Core by Clare Smyth’ in London. We sat down for a chat about food and life.

Strawberry Dust Choc Bliss Balls

Posted on by Emma Hook

Strawberry Dust Choc Bliss Balls

Today we have an amazing treat for you to try with your LuvaBerry dusts.

If you don’t follow @MelbMumFoodie on Instagram it’s time you did! She’s always getting creative in the kitchen and this time with our strawberry dust, making chocolate covered bliss balls! They look too good to resist.

 

 

Here’s the simple recipe for you to try at home!

Recipe:
1 cup dates (soaked in warm water)
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 tablespoons of strawberry dust
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon honey

Mix in processor

Roll into balls and refrigerate

1/2 Sugar free choc chips @noshufoods
1 tablespoon coconut oil
Melt these two ingredients

Dip the bliss balls into the chocolate and sprinkle with strawberry dust @luva_berry

Enjoy 💕

 

Snail of Approval

Posted on by Emma Hook

In 2019 we welcomed the Brisbane Slow Food Group to the farm, we had a wonderful farm tour and talked about our War on Waste journey and freeze-dry range.

Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization, founded in 1989 to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us. Since its beginnings, Slow Food has grown into a global movement involving millions of people in over 160 countries, working to ensure everyone has access to good, clean and fair food.

Slow Food believes food is tied to many other aspects of life, including culture, politics, agriculture and the environment. Through our food choices we can collectively influence how food is cultivated, produced and distributed, and change the world as a result.

Now, fast forward to 2020 and LuvaBerry has officially been awarded the Slow Foods Snail of Approval. The Snail of Approval recognises producers, chefs, restaurant owners and food outlets to use and promote good, clean and fair ingredients from the local area.

Businesses can be recognised if they are making efforts to produce food which is good, clean and fair.

  • GOOD: seasonal, local, quality, flavoursome and healthy food
  • CLEAN: sustainable production with low impact on the environment
  • FAIR: accessible prices for consumers and fair conditions and pay for producers and staff/workers

The only strawberry farm in the area to receive the Snail of Approval, Mandy from LuvaBerry was emotional accepting the award, “It’s so humbling and rewarding to be recognised for our hard work. A few years ago we wanted to make a difference and challenge the way we think about waste on farms. It finally feels like your journey and effort is making a difference so thank you.”

 

2020 Harvest

Posted on by Emma Hook

The QLD strawberry season runs from May through to roughly the end of September and every year we’re faced with new challenges and exciting obstacles – 2020 was no different.

As you know, we are a small family run and owned farm, and our working culture reflects this. Our seasonal workers join us from March for planting and we start picking in May, our workforce ranges in nationality, culture and background but by the end we’re one big (mostly) happy family. 

2020 Seasonal worker Rachel, from the US adds “I’ve done a range of seasonal work from hops to kiwis and LuvaBerry is a special experience where you really do become part of the family. Thanks for an amazing six months.”

A large proportion of our workforce in the past has been backpackers, but this year we worked with Madac’s Michael Wallis, to give workers from East Timor the opportunity to join us.

LuvaBerry’s Adrian says, “We love opening our home and our farm to a range of people from all over the world. No season is ever the same and sharing our Australian way of life and teaching everyone about farming is an amazing experience for us.” 2020 Mumpreneur winner Mandy adds, “It’s extra special to see our children grow up and be exposed to so many different cultures.”

We wanted to say a big thank you to all our workers and helpers this season. Harvest work isn’t easy and having such a great team to work with makes the long days worth it!

You may have read some of the recent headlines that closed borders due to COVID-19 have left Australia short of harvest workers. If you know anyone that would be interested in working for LuvaBerry then please send an email to: admin@luvaberry.com.au

 

 

Chia Seed Pudding Recipe

Posted on by Emma Hook

Chia seed pudding is the perfect breakfast or pick me up snack. You can use a simple recipe or get creative and add different flavours e.g. honey or cinnamon.

We like to keep things simple here at LuvaBerry so this recipe has only four ingredients:

  1. Chis seeds – black or white, your choice
  2. Coconut cream
  3. LuvaBerry Strawberry Dust and Crunch
  4. Fresh strawberries

Method

We used a glass to show off our strawberries but you can use anything Like an old jam jar or tall glass.

We experimented a little and found that the ratio is everything! When we didn’t use enough cream, the chia seeds were very hard. The texture we’re looking for is a creamy dessert, but you can play around to see what you like best. We finally took guidance from this blog and did 2 tablespoons of chia seeds for every half cup of cream.

We sliced some fresh fruit for decoration – the clear glass allows for the beautiful strawberry colour to be seen. Making sure the chia seeds are very well mixed with the cream/milk is important, the seeds need to soak up all the liquid, you might even want to mix a second time after waiting a minute. At this point we added in our LuvaBerry Strawberry Dust to give it a pink pop of colour – two teaspoons, but you can add as much as you like – it’s pure fruit with no added sugars, colourings or preservatives.

You then leave it in the fridge to set for at least three hours. We chose to decorate our pink chia seed pudding with LuvaBerry freeze-dry Crunch strawberries, but you can use fresh with a sprinkling of shredded coconut – get creative!

We hope you enjoyed this easy recipe and can get creative with the LuvaBerry freeze-dry range.

 

Strawberry Bundt Cake Recipe

Posted on by Emma Hook

Here’s another recipe for you get creative in the kitchen with some fresh strawberries. We’ve borrowed the recipe from QLD Strawberries & the lovely Mandy has made it her own with freeze-dry dust magic added.

1 cup Butter, softened
 2 cups Sugar
 3 Large Eggs
 3 tbsp Lemon Juice
 1 Lemon, zested
 2 ½ cups Plain Flour
 ½ tsp Baking Soda
 ½ tsp Salt
 1 cup Plain or Vanilla Greek Yoghurt
 1 ½ cups Fresh Strawberries, diced
 1 cup Icing Sugar
Sprinkling of strawberry dust
1 Preheat oven to 190°C. Grease and flour a 25cm Bundt pan (10-15 cup pan).
2 Sift together the 2 1/4 cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.
3 With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4 Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until blended.
5 Toss the strawberries with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Gently mix them into the batter. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan.
6 Place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 160°C. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
7 Allow to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
8 Once cooled, whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the icing sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

When the urge to bake takes hold, reach for this divine bundt-y-licious recipe. Nothing fancy goes in, but what comes out is amazing

 

Obviously we topped with LuvaBerry strawberry dust!

 

Original recipe by Michelle Budge

Farm Gate 2020

Posted on by Emma Hook

 

We don’t think we’re alone when we say that 2020 was not the year that we expected it to be. Due to COVID-19 we had to think of a new way to get our products to people who wanted to support what we do. Mandy’s innovative approach allowed for an opportunity to create Farm Gate – a weekly farm stall not only selling LuvaBerry but celebrating lots of produce from around the area. This blog post is a small reflection and thank you to those that supported us.

The LuvaBerry War on Waste has grown every year thanks to Car Park Parties – where Mandy and her helpers deliver, fresh, frozen and freeze-dry products around QLD. As it was no longer appropriate to deliver products this way due to government restrictions etc. we came up with a brilliant solution to invite prebooked groups to the farm. This allowed us to keep an eye on numbers and create an intimate experience for those wanting to browse local produce or pick their own.

Collaborative by nature – Mandy used Farm Gate to promote her ‘farm and business friends’ local produce too. From fresh passionfruit and avocados, to rosella jam and yummy chutney. A true champion of Queensland Mandy welcomed families for pick your own but also encouraged everyone to enjoy other activities in the area such as the newly built Rail Trail.

We loved having everyone to the farm, especially seeing the little ones picking their own for the first time. We’re proud to be The Family Berry and we know what it’s like to have young kids. That’s why we introduced ‘Peckish Picking’ where you can eat as much as you want in the field – sometimes strawberries are just too good to resist!

We see Farm Gate as a huge success and although the strawberry season in QLD is coming to an end soon, we look forward to creating new experiences that you and the family can enjoy at LuvaBerry. So thank you to everyone who came along or offered support. If you’re interested in any of the Farm Gate Partners, you can read about them here. Our freeze-dry range is available to buy online and the finger lime season is just beginning – read about that here.

Thank you,

LuvaBerry

Pancake Stack Recipe

Posted on by Emma Hook

To make this gorgeous pancake stack we kept it simple and followed a similar recipe to this.

In the past we’ve added food colouring (vegan beetroot option) for PINK PANCAKES, but for this treat we used just fresh strawberries. Although, a sprinkling of freeze-dry would have been perfect!

Pancakes:

    • 2 large eggs
    • 2 cups 250ml milk (skim, low fat or full fat)
    • 2 1/4 cups white self raising flour*

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Whisk the eggs and milk together to combine. Add in the flour, and beat until the batter is smooth and lump free. Add in any option add-ins you like here -if you’re local to LuvaBerry we sell frozen blueberries and raspberries which are perfect for pancakes!

  • Heat a nonstick pan over low-medium heat with cooking oil spray. Wipe over excess; pour about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake. Cook pancakes for 1 to 2 minutes, or until bubbles appear on the surface and the bases are golden brown. Flip and cook until golden; transfer to a warmed plate; repeat with remaining batter (spraying/greasing pan between ever second or third pancake if needed).

  • Serve immediately with yoghurt, ice cream, whipped cream, maple syrup, STRAWBERRIES, or any other toppings you like.

Enjoy!

 

Mandy wins gold at the 2020 Mumpreneur Awards

Posted on by Emma Hook

This week thousands of talented mums in business from all over the country tuned in to the livestream to support and encourage other Australian mumpreneurs.

Owner of LuvaBerry – Mandy, placed in three of the four finalist categories, taking first place in Product Innovation for her LuvaBerry Freeze-Dry range.

Mandy said she was excited to win in her category in the 2020 AusMumpreneur Awards in such a challenging time. Explaining: “Recognition in awards such as these is hugely touching and rewarding. We have come so far as a business and are constantly facing challenges to overcome.” Mandy continues, “To read about and meet (online) other finalists and winners is inspiring. Especially in times like these we often find ourselves in our own bubble, so it’s very refreshing to see and encourage other working mums.”

The award winning product range is part of the LuvaBerry War on Waste. Aiming to reduce waste and challenge the way farmA operate. Mandy explains: “We take fruit that supermarkets won’t accept due to the size, shape or colour. Then we freeze-dry it, turning it into a crunch and a dust product that is pure fruit.”

The AusMumpreneur Awards are presented by The Women’s Business School and were created to inspire, celebrate and provide a community for Australian entrepreneurs, like Mandy Schultz. Now more than ever Australian women need inspirational role models and a safe and supportive space to connect online, Peace Mitchell, cofounder of The Women’s Business School said. “These awards are all about recognising the growing number of mums who are achieving outstanding business success while balancing motherhood, states Mitchell.

“I was blown away by the courage, resilience and entrepreneurial spirit of the award winners and I know that they will provide great inspiration for other women considering starting their own business.”

This is the eleventh year the AusMumpreneur Awards have run, with the business mum community growing at lightning speed as mothers look for opportunities to join the ranks of small business owners in search of more flexibility, financial freedom and family time.The Women’s Business School co-founder Katy Garner adds: “The awards show the passion of women who want to fulfil their entrepreneurial dreams as well as be great mums. The number of women starting businesses has continued to grow in 2020! Of the 670,000 women operating a small business in Australia currently, around 50 per cent are mums with children at home. We are proud to be the number one community for mumpreneurs and showcasing the best and the brightest each year through these awards.”

“We are delighted that Amanda Schultz has won this award, she has created an outstanding business and is an inspirational role model and ambassador for mums in business everywhere. We wish her and all our amazing AusMumpreneur Award winners every success.”

The complete list of winners can be found at: https://ausmumpreneur.com/2020- ausmumpreneur-awards-winners/
For more information on the AusMumpreneur Awards visit: www.ausmumpreneur.com
And the Women’s Business School: www.thewomensbusinessschool.com

WordPress Resources at SiteGround

Posted on by Luvaberry

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