How to use berries

Mojisola

I tried elderberry liqueur for the first time last year and wasn't too taken with it but they do make a fabulous rich red wine.

arbrighton

As for pans- if you are anywhere near Ikea, they do a really big stainless pan with lid for £10
Can't for the life of me remember it's item name though.

Horace

Another idea for fruit is bottling. I was given some plums last year and although I gave some away I still had loads so I decided to try my hand at bottling (never done it before). I had some kilner jars which I washed in scaldingly hot water. I then rinsed in equally hot water before using them.

I lightly stewed some plums with sugar and water in a pan and then when they were soft I transferred them to the jars and put the lids on whilst hot to form a good seal. Over Christmas and New Year when I was looking for something nice to eat - I remembered the fruit, jolly nice they were too - I served them with custard.

One thing that we do in our family with pears, is peel and slice them, put them in a saucepan and cover them with lemonade and stew them in the lemonade. It is then portioned out and frozen (we just put it in freezer bags) - we thaw it and eat it with ice cream or make crumbles with it. The stewing in lemonade is my grandma's old recipe.

You are lucky to live near a community orchard, shame that folks have forgotten it is there.

WelshKitty85

Horace, thank you. I might try bottling some of the plums today. We are so lucky to have it so close. I actually saw 1 other person there yesterday collecting blackberries, but there is so much fruit there going to waste. It's such a shame.

poorly_scammo

Homemade creme de mure (tastes lovely): http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/blackberry-liqueur-creme-de-mure

Spicy blackberry chutney: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2643/spicy-blackberry-chutney

blackberry coulis http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3118/blackberry-coulis Will freeze until you need it. I use it as a sauce and add to ice cream to make blackberry ripple.

I have a lot of blackberries growing in my garden so use these recipes a lot.

You can also dry fruit such as apples in the oven: http://www.fruitexpert.co.uk/dryingfruitfromyourgarden.html

And you can make fruit leathers: http://www.wildfooduk.com/articles/making-fruit-leathers/

WelshKitty85

Thank you. I have started the creme de mure as I had a bottle of red sat on the side. I'm not a big red wine drinker so this seems a good use for it. I like the look of the chutney too, but have used all my blackberries for now so will have to wait until I pick some more.

I was planning on making some muffins today but didn't have enough oil. So, I have made some elderberry scones instead and they are yummy!

CupOfChai

How did you make the elderberry scones please? I've been fancying scones, got ready access to free elderberries and no sultanas in!

greenbee

I juice my apples and freeze the juice (my brother turns his into cider...). I'm currently frantically stewing apples and plums to freeze as I'm about to go away for work. I am fed up with the processing, but I know that I should be able to get enough done to supply me with stewed fruit for breakfasts and puddings over the winter and possibly longer. As I'm running out of containers with lids I'm planning on making crumbles so that the topping holds the fruit in

WelshKitty85

CupOfChai wrote: »

How did you make the elderberry scones please? I've been fancying scones, got ready access to free elderberries and no sultanas in!

I found a basic scone recipe on the BBC food website (sorry I can't post links) and just added elderberries to it. They were delicious when still warm with proper butter on them!

CupOfChai

You just chuck the fresh whole elderberries in the mix then, don't need to cook them or add sugar or anything?

I am sooo doing this.