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BerriesFinnish forests are a real treasure if you like berries. As many as fifty different varieties exist. Finnish berries are clean and healthy; they contain huge amounts of important vitamins, flavonoids, fiber, and anti-oxidants. Due to their demanding growing conditions, Finnish berries have to develop a larger amount of wholesome compounds than their Southern European cousins. Thus, our berries are healthier than most! Not only are Finnish berries healthy, but their tastes are incredibly delicious and they make sinfully sweet desserts. So, how about having some strawberry sorbet, cloudberry parfait, blueberry tart, lingonberry crème brûlé, sea buckthorn pudding or frozen cranberries with butterscotch sauce? Or what about fresh fruit salad consisting of redcurrants, blackcurrants, gooseberries and raspberries? BlueberryFinnish wild blueberries can be found in spruce forests. Wild blueberries are somewhat smaller than cultivated blueberries available in many places in the U.S. and Europe. Finnish blueberries are also blue on the inside! Due to the short but light growing season, flavors are also stronger. Blueberries are rather sweet and make delicious jams, pies, pastries, juice, liqueurs and marmalades. StrawberryFinnish strawberries have been rated the world’s best thanks to the Northern growing conditions that make flavors very intense. Finns love their juicy and sweet strawberries, which you can find at every marketplace from late June on. Fresh strawberries are delicious by themselves, but they can be accompanied by vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Strawberries work well for jams and juices, and a true Finnish summer treat is freshly baked cake decorated with whipped cream and freshly picked strawberries. RaspberryBoth wild and cultivated raspberries are available in Finland. These pink, soft berries are very sweet and juicy. Wild raspberries can be found at logging places and ditch banks from late July into August, and they truly are worth a trip out to nature. Raspberries can be used in juices, jams and pastries, but they also taste wonderful just plain. CloudberryCloudberries can be found at bogs and swamps especially in Northern Finland. These yellowish berries are a Northern specialty. They are rather juicy and sweet and have distinctively large seeds. A traditional Finnish treat is to have cloudberry jam with “leipäjuusto” – Finnish squeaky cheese, which is baked cheese made from cow’s milk. LingonberryLingonberries are red, acidic, rather small berries. As they are not very sweet, they are often served with meat – for instance with sautéed reindeer, black sausage or liver. However, with plenty of sugar, they can be used in jam, juice or porridge. Lingonberries grow wild in pine forests throughout the country. For more information about Finnish berries, please visit: Eat and Joy: 16 delicious Finnish berries Eat and Joy: Strawberry, A Sweetheart of the Finns Eat and Joy: Berries – Little Treasures of the Forests |