Is this how blueberries used to taste?
I visit a very special farm to pick different varieties of blueberries. And I offer a cracking recipe for a super simple but glorious blueberry cheesecake.
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This morning I wandered happily in the rain picking blueberries at Trehane Blueberry Farm near Wimborne, in Dorset. This is a truly special place. It’s the UK’s oldest blueberry plantation, and I was fortunate enough to visit a few years ago to write a feature for a local magazine. I was so happy to find the place hadn’t changed; despite the drizzle it was buzzing with families filling boxes with the purple gems, which dangle in bunches like grapes. It fills me with joy, honestly, to see kids getting excited about picking fruit.
It’s a Pick Your Own affair, but as I wrote in my original feature, it’s more like Pick-and-Mix. Each neat row of blueberry plants is a different variety, with its own unique taste, sweetness and tang. Just like sweets in a selection, you can choose the ones you like the flavour of most.
Brothers Dan and Josh Benson run the plantation, which has been a feature of the Dorset landscape for decades. The blueberries were originally planted by the late David Trehane, a pioneering horticulturalist, who answered a newspaper advertisement in 1951 offering free blueberry seedlings to anyone in the UK interested in trialling them.
Eighty ‘high bush’ blueberry plants arrived from Lulu Island in British Columbia, and to Trehane’s amazement they thrived in the sandy, acidic heathland soil. He took the plunge and went on to plant more than 2,200 plants across four-and-a-half acres, becoming the UK’s first commercial blueberry grower.
Eight different varieties were planted in 1964, the best and latest available at the time. Five of these varieties are now rare, while three are no longer grown anywhere else in the UK except at Trehane. (Only one variety, ‘Bluecrop’, is widely sold in shops in the UK.)
The difference in flavour between the varieties is astonishing: some are tart, some are confectionary sweet, others are earthy and complex. Visiting Trehane really is a unique chance to sample blueberries that taste the way they did before modern, highly productive, disease–resistant varieties became standard.
Modern blueberries are designed to stay on the plant for longer and are therefore sweeter, aligning with modern preferences for sweeter fruit and vegetables, and a declining interest in tart. But at Trehane, the Ivanhoe variety, for example, is pleasingly sharp and flavourful, not only refreshing to eat straight off the bush, but also perfect for making jam.
Many regular customers now know the different characteristics of each variety, and come seeking their favourite. The blueberry season is short, just 4-6 weeks, so some enthusiasts come and pick 20kg or more, some of which they will freeze to enjoy in pies, jams and compotes until the season comes around again.
Since my last visit, the brothers have planted a new variety - Aurora - which will yield very large, sweet and tasty fruit in a few years time. These additions are essential because, sadly, the heritage plants won’t last forever. They’re still robust and fruiting well, but at more than 40 years old, are well into blueberry old age. If you find yourself in Dorset during blueberry season (late July through August) you should come and taste them while you still can.
Blueberry Cheesecake
This is a super-simple and delicious cheesecake that takes no time at all to make, but does need LOTS of chilling time to ensure the filling has a chance to firm up. For the best results, start making it a good 12 hours before you plan to eat it.
For the crust
100g unsalted butter
200g digestive biscuits, ginger biscuits, Graham crackers or speculoos
3 Tbsp ground almonds
a pinch of salt
For the filling
220g cream cheese
300ml double cream
2 Tbsp icing sugar
Finely grated zest 1/2 lemon
For the blueberry topping
300g blueberries
50g caster sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tbsp cornflour
Start with the crust. Melt the butter in a pan. Meanwhile, blitz the biscuits in a food processor or blender to make fine crumbs.
Tip the crumbs into the melted butter along with the ground almonds and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine well - the mixture should be the texture and consistency of wet sand.
Press into the base and up the sides of a 20cm springform cake tin, smoothing with the back of a spoon. Chill.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Beat the cream, cream cheese, icing sugar and lemon zest with electric beaters until very smooth and thick. Spoon into the tin lined with the biscuit crumbs and smooth the top. Chill for at least six hours - ideally 12 or more.
For the topping, place half the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and a generous splash of water in a pan. Simmer until the blueberries have completely broken down.
In a small bowl, stir together the cornflour and 1 tablespoon very hot water to form a paste. Scrape into the pan with the blueberries and continue simmering until the fruit and sauce thickens into a syrupy consistency - it should run easily off the end of a spoon. Transfer to a bowl and chill.
When you’re ready to serve, stir the remaining blueberries into the cooked blueberry mixture.
Run a very sharp knife around the edge of the cheesecake and release from the tin. Top with the blueberry mixture and serve immediately.
That blueberry farm sounds like a dream-come-true! I envy your trip there.
That blueberry farm sounds amazing - noted with interest. And thanks for the rexcipe!