Blackberries

Farway

Elderberry wine, excellent stuff

A Google will no doubt turn up loads of recipes

Topher

You may find as I did that blackberries are better as jelly than jam, as the seeds can be quite crunchy and bitty in a jam.
Good condition blackberries are quite shiny and plump and come off the bramble reasonably easily. They have more than five bumpy noduly thingys too. Experience of different clumps will tell you which are best, the direction they're facing, what they're shaded by etc. all have an effect on the quality of the berries. I was surprised this year to find that some under the shade of some trees were unusually good and not grubby. In the past shade has indicated a tendancy to insect life in the berries. I guess these got some sunlight in spite of the shade.
I've had a friend's experimental elderberry pie, closely followed by a battle between all of the guests for the bathroom. Don't... is my advice. However I was thinking of trying elderberry wine again this year. (Making it as well as drinking it.)
T.

soappie

I made a lovely elderberry jam over the weekend. I was picking blackberries but found an elderberry tree overflowing with nice ripe berries.

The recipe I used goes like this:

Weigh the elderberries (once you've painstakingly stripped them from the stalk - a fork used in a combing action helps with this) and wash throughly.

Get an equal weight of cooking apples, and cut and chop (leaving pips, skin etc. on). Put apples in a saucepans with a little water and stew gently. At the same time, put the elderberries in the larger (or jam) saucepan with a little water and stew gently.

When the apples are all soft and mushy, turn off the heat from both saucepans. Get a sieve (rather than a collander) and put the cooked apples in it. With a wooden spoon, sieve the apples into the stewed elderberries so that only the pips and the skin are left in the sieve.

Weigh out ordinary granulated sugar so that it equals the weight of the elderberries before they were cooked. Slowly stir the sugar into the elderberry/apple mixture until it's dissolved. Then turn the heat back on again and boil until the saucer setting point trick is achieved (see other jam making threads).

It took about 20 minutes for me the other day for the combined mixture to reach setting point. That was using 11b elderberries 1lb apples 1lb sugar.

Jar etc. as usual.

It's really tasty and set beautifully - also not too sweet.

Farway

One thing to watch when picking blackberries, avoid those lower than a dog's hind leg :rotfl:

Aril

OH and I are going to have a go at making an elderberry and blackberry jam [plus my neighbour's windfall apples] for a change this year. I believe you can make a pickle with elderberries although haven't tried it personally. I'll let you know what the results of my experiment taste like!
Aril

Jacksmummy

Thanks everyone for your suggestions

I didnt manage to get out and get any this afternoon as I had visitors turn up so I am going to take a walk up to get some now then I can leave then soaking over night in a bowl ready for me to try out some recipes tomorrow

Debt_Free_Chick

Farway wrote: »

One thing to watch when picking blackberries, avoid those lower than a dog's hind leg :rotfl:

A dachshound or a great dane? :rotfl: :rotfl:

cocalls

Hi there

Justbeen out and picked a load of blackberries, not a great season for them IMO.
However, anyone got any good receipes i can make with them apart from the ubiquitious crumble??

Pink.

Hi cocalls,

There are some ideas on this thread:

A wealth of blackberries - what to do

I'll merge your thread with that one later to keep all the suggestions together.

Pink

ktpie

I made some lovely sorbet last year, from a recipe in the River cottage cookbook.
Off the top of my head you just washed them then put them in a pan with a dash of lemon juice and a dash of water and loads of sugar heated them really gently while stirring so that the sugar dissolves and the juices start running out don't overheat. Then put it all in a seive and push it through with a wooden spoon. Take all the juice that comes off and freeze, you need to take it out every now and then and stir it to get that sorbet consistency but I found it didn't need doing that often, plus you get to have a taste every time you stir it!
It makes a really strong sorbet, you hardly need any of it for a dessert, I sometimes add a small amount to plain yoghurt to make flavoured yoghurt, and being frozen it keeps for ages. You could even not bother freezing it and just use the juice as a sauce.
(Will check when I get home that I have this recipe right!)

Just checked in the book and this is correct, for amounts he says a kilo of fruit to 250g caster sugar and half a lemon.