Stapleton yogurt, bursting with flavour

Stapleton yogurt, different from the first spoon... 
When you pass by the yogurt aisle in the supermarkets, you might almost get lost amidst so many brands, flavours and sizes. Which ones to choose? How does the idea of a creamy yogurt made from the milk of the Jersey cows sound? Especially when it is mixed with fruit and other natural ingredients and a little of unrefined cane sugar? Stapleton assures us that they "still make their yogurt in small, 30-litre pails. It's this technique that gives our yogurt its smooth, silky texture without the need for stabilisers. This is impossible with the larger scale industrial vats used in most of the industry".

Stapleton's signature 25% fruit range comes in five delicious flavours: Strawberry & Clotted Cream, Gooseberry, Raspberry, Nectarine & Passion Fruit and Apple & Blackcurrant.
Each 150g pot is bursting with flavour. As Stapleton states on their website: "Our fruit compotes are prepared on site and stirred in by hand, avoiding unnecessary mechanical processing".

We have tried two of the above flavours: Raspberry and Gooseberry.

Stapleton low fat Raspberry yogurt:
First impressions - very pretty dark pink colour. It is a tasty yogurt with a high content of fruit. It is not just a raspberry-flavoured yogurt (like many other brands), but a yogurt with a generous amount of pureed berries. Absolutely lush!

Stapleton Gooseberry yogurt is another delightful yogurt, full of berries. Before I tried it, I was a bit unsure if it's going to be sour, as many varieties of gooseberries are very tart. I shouldn't have worried. I loved that the gooseberries were not squashed or pureed, but left intact, it was a mix of a creamy delicious yogurt with a gooseberry compote. This is one of the best gooseberry yogurts I have ever tasted.

When the Stapleton hamper arrived, I shared a few pots with my friends and asked to let me know what they thought. One of them emailed me: "Hope all is well with you. Oh yes! the yogurts were delicious. I would almost go to say the best that I have tasted- Mum agrees too. Very fruity with the whole fruit added to make quite an authentic taste..."

Stapleton Prune and Date Yogurt

Stapleton Prune & Date yogurt with sunflower seeds, cereals and grains as well as Stapleton Fig & Date yogurt from Anytime range have recently undergone a packaging design makeover. These attractive 400g pots display the selection of ingredients: seeds, grains and fruit on their packaging sleeves.
I love prunes (and figs) with yogurt, it is such a fantastic combination of flavours - the sweetness of prunes, figs and dates is beautifully contrasted by the sour note of the yogurt. This low fat yogurt is a whole brekkie in a bowl, you get clusters of oat groats and sunflower seeds inside. A brilliant start of the day for many health-conscious customers. Or an afternoon snack, when you are feeling peckish. Anytime range yogurts, as the name suggests, can be enjoyed at any time of the day, not just for breakfast.

Then there is a wonderful range of Stapleton Greek Recipe Yogurts available in Natural, Lemon Curd and Vanilla flavours. These yogurts come in 400g pots which contain several servings and have resealable lids for easier storage. Each of the Greek recipe flavours is a versatile ingredient for desserts - try them with fresh or dried fruit.
The design of the packaging is very stylish and shows very attractive photo images, which were taken in Crete by Stapleton co-founders Peter and Carol Duncan.
The Greek Recipe range (just like the rest of Stapleton's products) contains nothing artificial and achieves its consistency without any thickeners (like modified maize starch or gelatine). It was first produced in the early 1980s, and is inspired by the Cretan holidays.

Stapleton Greek Recipe Natural Yogurt is great in fruit salads and coleslaw, as well as in curries like Korma or Greek style marinated chicken (with garlic, oregano, parsley and lemon).

Add a generous dollop of Greek recipe Natural yogurt to any creamy soup, like this chuck-it-all-in vegetable soup I  cooked today. I had a small size pumpkin or squash, not sure what it was, since pre-Hallowe'en days (the idea was to paint it but it never materialised). I roasted it with a couple of red sweet peppers (skinned the peppers after roasting), and then cooked with 1 chopped carrot, 1 potato, 1 stock cube and a handful of red lentils. Blitzed. Served with the yogurt. It was comfort food at its best. Very tasty.

Make a batch of blini, either sweet or savoury, adding the yogurt to the batter. Top up with a good dollop of yogurt and sliced banana, or a sliver of cured salmon.

Stapleton Greek Recipe Vanilla Yogurt has a delicate vanilla flavour. It is extra smooth and thick.
I have used it to make blueberry pancakes. I often add the soured cream or plain Greek style yogurt to the pancake batter. Vanilla-flavoured recipe added an extra oomph to the much loved dish. Prepare the batter (see my old recipe post for the basic pancake batter) with any of Stapleton's Greek Recipe yogurts. Pour a ladleful of batter on a hot pancake pan and scatter a handful of blueberries. Absolutely delicious!

Blueberry pancake made with Stapleton Greek Recipe Vanilla Yogurt

Stapleton Greek Recipe Lemon Curd Yogurt is wonderfully creamy. For a quick dessert, just spoon it on a shortbread, top up with a few fresh berries and enjoy.

I have also used it in baking. I often bake yogurt cakes or cupcakes, and have a recipe, which I have used with many differently flavoured yogurts and toppings.

These cupcakes are so easy and quick to make, and are full of goodness. I often put one of them into my older son's lunchbox as a dessert.

Yogurt cupcakes with poppy seeds
Ingredients:
3 eggs
175g caster sugar
150ml yogurt
1tsp vanilla essence
150g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
70g ground almonds
165g butter, melted
2tbsp honey
zest of 1/2 lemon
2+tbsp poppy seeds
Beat the eggs with the sugar until creamy, and add the remaining ingredients, one at a time, keep mixing. Add  1tbsp of the poppy seeds to the cake mix, and leave 1tbsp for the topping.
You can substitute the seeds for sunflower seeds as a topping, or use the pine nuts.
Pour the cake mix into the muffin cases placed in the muffin tin, and bake in the oven preheated to 180C for about 20 minutes. Check if the cupcakes are ready with a wooden toothpick.
The cupcakes are very soft and squishy.

For more information, updates and funky competitions, visit Stapleton Yogurt on Facebook.
You can find Stapleton Yogurt on Twitter as well.

There is also a fab competition to win a summer holiday in North Devon on Stapleton website (link removed as expired). You can bet I have entered, and keep my fingers crossed.

Disclosure: I received a hamper of Stapleton yogurts for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are mine.