Tag: blackberry

Blackberry & apple jam/cheese

Blackberry pips in jam; bothersome. Jelly; too much fruit wasted. There is a third way, making a fruit ‘cheese’ – essentially you cook the fruit and then force it through a sieve or mouli. 

INGREDIENTS

This can be made proportionally. 

  • 1 quantity of blackberries
  • half that weight in cooking apple, such as bramley, chopped, cored but not peeled
  • 1 tbsp water for each 150g blackberries
  • jam sugar

METHOD

  • Simmer the apple and the blackberries together in the water, until the apple is soft. 
  • Put the cooked fruit through the mouli on the finest setting. 
  • Measure the pulp: for each 100g pulp add 100g jam sugar
  • Boil the sugar and pulp together to setting point. 
  • Pour into warmed clean jars. 

Blackberry and apple crumble

Bramble season in the Hebrides, much later than on the mainland. The blackberries we picked last weekend were sharp and flavourful, juicy and small. I’ve frozen some for making bramble jelly later, but I made a crumble for Malcolm, because he loves it. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 very large cooking apple 
  • around 200g blackberries
  • 2 tbsp date syrup or dark brown sugar or any other sugar
  • a pinch of cinnamon, or allspice
  • 60g butter
  • 120g self-raising flour
  • 60g sugar

METHOD:

  • Preheat the oven to 180C
  • Make a crumble mix – rub the butter into the flour and then add the sugar. You can add porridge oats, ground nuts, flaked almonds use brown sugar, or add spices if you wish.
  • Peel and chop the cooking apple, and then combine with the blackberries and the date syrup and allspice (or other sugar, sweet spice). 
  • Put the fruit evenly in the bottom of an oven-proof dish, then cover with the crumble mix. 
  • Bake for around 30 minutes, then serve with custard or cream. 

Bramble cocktail

I keep thinking it would be nice to have a cocktail each weekend, try out a new recipe. It has taken me quite a long time to get round to it. I had some blackberries in the freezer, picked last autumn, so I made this.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 blackberries
  • 1 level teaspoon of caster sugar
  • juice of half a lime
  • 1 1/2 floz gin
  • 1/2 floz creme de mure (blackberry liqueur)
  • Soda water (or any carbonated water e.g. from the sodastream, to avoid plastic)

METHOD:

  • In the bottom of a tall glass, mix the sugar and lime juice and add the blackberries
  • Fill the glass with ice, and add the gin and creme de mure.
  • Top up with soda water, and stir. Garnish with a slice of lime.

I have some Tanqueray gin flavoured with lime, so I might try that next time.