Blenheim Orange - Cooking / Eating Apples
Blenheim Orange was first found as a seedling, growing close to Blenheim Palace in about 1740 although it found fame later when its name was changed from Kempsters Seedling to Blenheim Orange. It is such a good apple that it was grown widely on both sides of the Atlantic from then until the 1930's when heavier cropping new varieties were planted commercially.
Blenheim Orange, as an eater has a lovely flavour, slightly nutty, that goes tremendously well with cheese. We think that flavour improves when the apple is cooked and very few apples make an Apple Charlotte as well as a Blenheim Orange.
This is a handsome apple, flushed red/orange, sometimes with stripes all on a yellow green skin. The skin on some Blenheim Orange apples can have little golden blown spots and markings. The flesh is white and slightly crumbly - which is why it cooks so well. The apples come late, keep well and are best used between October and December. This can also be a bit slow fruiting young Trees- can be shy to start, but as they age they crop very heavily indeed.
Blenheim Orange carries fruit both on spurs and on the tips of branches. Thinning at the fruitlet stage is important as it helps ensure even cropping every year. It flowers in mid-season and is triploid which means it is both needs pollination and cannot pollinate other apples. For more information on apple pollination and to find a suitable pollinator for your Blenheim Orange please take a look at our Guide to Fruit Pollination.
If you are unclear about fruit tree sizes take a look at our Guide to Fruit Tree Sizing
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