Australian Hiker

Rating

Back Country Cuisine Apple and Berry Crumble Review

The Back Country Cuisine range of outdoor meals is probably the best known in Australia. However for many people the range of desserts is not as well known with hikers often forgoing this luxury on the trail. While Back Country produces an ever growing range of desserts, it is rare to see the full range in any one store as most tend to pick the best two or three to sell.

These meals are very easy to prepare and as long as you can boil water then you are set with preparation time requiring only 10-15 minutes. The meal comes in a bag that is well designed and the bottom opens out to provide a flat base for those minimalists who want to leave the bowl at home. The option exists to tear the top off the bag to allow easy access to the food but if you have a long handled spoon you won’t need to tear the bag. My other reason for not tearing the top off the bag is that you minimise any mess and after you’re done you can re-zip the zip lock.

At the time of this review this dessert comes in ‘regular size’ and while this is supposedly a single serve, its a lot of food and Gill and I were quite happy to share this dessert which comes in at 634 calories.

The recommendation for rehydration is to use 250 ml of water and it’s spot on. The recommendation is also to add the water and then top with the biscuit dumb which comes in a small packet prior to eating after a 10-15 minute rehydration time although 10 minutes worked well for us. This is what we did but half way through we mixed the crumb through the berry mix and it worked just as well.

The normal price sits around the $16.99 mark. Most of the larger chain stores offer member discounts or have regular sales so its worthwhile looking around. These products do have a long shelf life so you can stock up during the regular sales.

Up until this dessert my favourite desert was the Back Country Cuisine Apple Pie and while this is very, very similar it has a very slight edge on taste with the addition of the berries. From my perspective the taste is very close to apple and rhubarb pie but just has that slight bit of tang from the small amounts of boysenberry and strawberry in the mix. Like the apple pie, this dessert is sweet and syrupy and would hit the spot on colder nights.

If you’re not sure on the dessert front then this is a very safe choice providing you like sweet things. If I’m taking desserts on a hike then this will now be one of them; how could it not be as it’s a great addition to the range.

We Like

• Three year warranty which means you can buy these when you see them discounted thereby reducing the price. You also know the desserts will always be edible
• Minimal preparation time. All you are doing is rehydrating these desserts so once you add boiling water there’s only a 10-15 minute wait and it worked well
• If you eat from the bag there is only the spoon to clean up. In fact you may not even need to carry a bowl at all thereby limiting the weight you carry
• This dessert is as close to ‘homestyle cooking’ as possible without cooking. It tastes so good!
• Freeze dried. This takes much of the weight out of the meals and helps to limit the impact on your body

We Don't Like

• The main negative of any commercially preprepared dehydrated / freeze dried meal is the cost. The Back Country Cuisine Apple Pie works out at $16.00 for a singles serve but really this can best be considered a twin serve which means it sits at $8.50 per person
• One size only at the time of this review. I hope you’re hungry!

Best Uses

An easy to prepare dessert whether it be on a short or long trip for camping and hiking. When you’re feeling a bit flat after a hard day it’s hard not to feel chirpy again after eating this dessert

Buy One

You can purchase Back Country Cuisine Apple and Berry Crumble meal online from Wildfire Sports

Disclosure:  We may earn a small commission, at no additional expense to you, if you click through and make a purchase. Please note that our affiliations do not influence, in any way, the independence of our reviews. If we don’t like a product, you’ll hear about it from us!

Other Versions

Back Country produces a good range of desserts to suit all tastes

Investment

AUD $16.90 RRP twin serve

Back Country Cuisine Apple and Berry Crumble as purchased

Bottom of the bag flattened out

Back Country Cuisine Apple and Berry Crumble ingredient and nutrition panel. The suggested addition of 250 ml of water is spot-on

Back Country Cuisine Apple and Berry Crumble showing contents of the pack. The small packet on the right is the biscuit crumb that you add just before eating

Apple and Berry Crumble unrehydrated, close up of the main ingrediants

Back Country Cuisine Apple and Berry Crumble rehydrated

Back Country Cuisine Apple and Berry Crumble ready to eat

Back Country Cuisine Apple and Berry Crumble artistically displayed

Disclaimer

This review was done with product provided by the Australian distributor of Back Country Cuisine

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