i've been a proper old style money saver with my free fruit....

chloe99_2

better bargains - cherry plums I have seen were about the size of a cherry tom (yellow plums) or a small grape (purple ones a little smaller than yellow one). They look like miniature plums and if you open one and smell it you will recognise plum smell and also see a miniature plum stone. If you're fairly sure it's a cherry plum you could taste to check!!!!

apple_mint

Shokami wrote:

Hi apple-mint. Blackberry wine sounds delish. Could you post the recipe please. Thanks

Haven't made blackberry wine before but we are giving this recipe a try (from an old wine book picked up at a car boot). Most recipes are very similar - this one is a little different as it is started with cold rather than hot water.

4 1/2 lb blackberries
2 1/2 lb sugar
1 gallon water
1 lb chopped raisins
1 tsp pectolase
1 tsp wine yeast
1 tsp yeast nutrient
campden tablets

Wash blackberries (remove stalks and pieces of leaves) and put into fermentation bin. Mash with a wooden spoon and add the raisins.

Pour the cold water over the fruit, stir well and add pectolase and a campden tablet.

Cover the bin and leave the pulp for 24 hours.

Stir in the sugar until it dissolves and then add the yeast and yeast nutrient.

Cover securely (we put a couple of t towels on top) and leave to ferment for five or six days, stirring and mashing the pulp each day.

Strain off the liquid through muslin in a sieve into a fermentation jar. Fit airlock and put into a warm place to ferment out.

Rack the clear wine into a fermentation jar and add a campden tablet. Rack as necessary (when you get sediment on the bottom of the demijohn) and store for several months before putting into bottles (dark).

Leave for 9 months to a year before drinking.

We have one lot in a demijohn, another in a bucket fermenting (smells wonderful) and a third lot we started last night so will be putting the yeast in tonight.

We tested a marrow and ginger wine we made last year and it is really good, so I don't mind waiting 12 to 18 months for something that costs very little. I'm just making sure I have plenty started - as we only made one demijohn of the marrow and ginger!

Dustykitten

Nikki wrote:

Vast quanties of cherry plums and still picking!! Mainly red as the yellow ones are too high to reach,....

Have you tried this - cut the bottom off of a large fizzy drink bottle (2lt). Remove the cap and put a very long, thick bamboo cane into the bottle neck. Secure firmly with tape. You can then reach lots more fruit - good for most trees. Simply put the bottle into the tree, hook the fruit and shake the bottle. Ripe fruit will drop in - hope it helps

newleaf

Well, I've spent two and a half hours this evening stoning these cherry plums and boiling up jam, but I'm not at all convinced it's going to set. Tastes nice though. I used 6 lbs plums & 6 lbs sugar, and 1 and a half pints of water. That's what my jam book recommends for both plum and greengage jam. I suppose I won't know till morning, but I'll be fed up if it doesn't set.

apple_mint

My damson jam didn't set. So I poured it all back in the pan the next day, added some lemon juice and boiled it up again. I took it too far and now it is set very solid .. but you may be able to find a mid way point. Even so, my damson jam tastes delicious. I would have been hapy to have it as a syrup to pour over ice cream, but OH definately wanted jam.

tanmu

All this talk of free fruit and what everyone is cooking with it is making me hungry! We have a lot of trees near our house that are dropping berries all over the ground and making a right mess...sometimes they even splat on you as you walk by! They look like very ripe cherries, but how do I know if they are or not? - they could be poisonous looky-likeys as far as I know. So my question to you all is, how do you know what you can pick and what you can't???

chloe99_2

newleaf - how'd the cherry plum jam set?

newleaf

Thanks for asking Chloe. It has set, but only just, so quite loose. Tastes divine though, a bit sharp. According to my jam book, too little sugar can be the cause of jam refusing to set, so perhaps I should have used more - but I do prefer it sharp. I certainly can't be bothered reboiling it, so this will have to do. It made nearly 12lbs!

newleaf

tanmu wrote:

All this talk of free fruit and what everyone is cooking with it is making me hungry! We have a lot of trees near our house that are dropping berries all over the ground and making a right mess...sometimes they even splat on you as you walk by! They look like very ripe cherries, but how do I know if they are or not? - they could be poisonous looky-likeys as far as I know. So my question to you all is, how do you know what you can pick and what you can't???

There's a couple of cherry trees at work that are dropping big ripe black cherries all over the place right now, splattering all over my car every day! I have tasted one, they are quite tart, would be a good cooking cherry I reckon.
They make a terrible mess of the carpet. Our janitor is doing his nut and has asked for them to be cut down, but luckily they are subject to a preservation order.
My advice is to wash one and taste it, if it looks and smells like a ripe cherry then it probably is

janetmw

There is a lot of discussion regarding the setting abilities of various fruits.

It is possible to do a rough and ready test on the pectin content of fruit when cooking it for jam.

After cooking the fruit until it is soft and pulpy and before adding the sugar, place a teaspoon of the juice in a small glass and allow to cool. (try to avoid taking skin, pips etc.) Add a tablespoon of methylated spirits, shake and leave for a couple of minutes. Drain off the meths.

If a solid jelly-like clot is left, the fruit mixture has a good pectin content and should set easily.

A loose, soft clot indicates that it may be advisable to add some extra pectin in the form of apple juice, commercial pectin (Certo) or as I have done replace half the sugar with the 'pectin sugar' that is available.

No discernable clot indicates there is little pectin content and that a good set will not be achieved without the help of more additional pectin.

Hope this helps

Janet