Another fruit crop that has taken a bit of a hit this year due to the wet spring was the blackberry, or bramble. The thorny bush that grows along Britain's roads and hedgerows gives gorgeous dark berries in the Autumn months and these are a sweet treat for any rambler or forager.
Brambles are a great freezer berry - popping them in freezer bags allows you you mix them in with your porridge all year round, gives you an easy pie filling and by in the bottom of a pudding bowl and plonking some sponge cake mix on top is a simple twenty minute pudding.
Another way to preserve these is to make jam - which, when I start up the Christmas Feast next year, I hope to use as a form of currency for bartering. You need
Ingredients
1kg Blackberries (or raspberries)
1kg Sugar
1 sachet Pectin
What you do
Put the fruit, sugar and pectin into a large pot and heat, stirring occasionally. Here is where you need a jam thermometer, and when the temperature hits 220F, allow the jam to boil for five minutes. Then pour into sterilised jars and seal with a disc of waxed paper, before covering with either a lid or a piece of cellophane. You can eat it once cool, but I'd leave it for a month - it tastes better.
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| Brambles, Sugar & Pectin |
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Boil at 220F for five minutes
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| Pour into sterilised jars |
