Blackberry preserving

[g4ghb]

So far this year I have harvested over 6 kilos of blackberry's that are growing feral between the back of my workshop and next doors fence. Picking is interesting though, it involves climbing a ladder onto the roof and picking from there

So far we have frozen a load, made jam (well swmbo did after some encouragement from me) and tonight we made blackberry cordial. Which for someone that is not overly keen on 'squash' was quite nice!

Any other ideas of things to try as I reckon there is a another couple of kilos waiting to ripen in the next week or so.

 

[Shewie]

Vodka ? brandy ?

=xmas pressies

 

[Harvestman]

Bottle them, make jelly from the juice, make fruit cheese from the pulp that is left (makes wonderful backpacking food!), pour gin/vodka/brandy over them, stew them up and make pies and crumbles, mix them with plums etc and make more jam(!), make fruit chutney, squeeze them through a juicer, stuff them into a roast (good with duck and pork), add them to stews, or just plain good old eat them with cream and cinnamon.

I love blackberries!

I think you can preserve them simply by layering them in a jar with sugar too, but I've not done this, and would be interested to hear from anyone who has done something like it.

 

[g4ghb]

Fruit cheese sounds interesting! any more info you can give me harvestman? - just a tadd miffed as swmbo has just thrown the seeds and pulp left from the cordial on the compost hey ho - next time I guess.....

We have been eating them in puds etc and being tea total I'm not interested in anything like making wine, brandy etc

 

[Mentalpatient]

fruit leather is another option...
fruit cheese sounds good, I will try that one myself
my favourite is a nice blackberry and apple crumble, with a little ginger or cinnamon in the topping
(spices work best in the topping for some reason)

another one would be to have the cordial hot, like tea... or add it to tonic water or sparkling water

 

[g4ghb]

Our cordial has cinnamon in it and you can just taste it faintly in the background - very nice

my recipe if anyone is interested is......

• 1500g blackberries
• cold water
• 1/4 tsp of cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 400g sugar

1. Pick over & wash the blackberries. Place in a pan and just cover them with water.
   
2. Boil them until they burst (mash them to help along). Strain juice through metal sieve.
   
3. Put strained blackberry juice, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon in pan. Bring to boil and simmer until sugar dissolves, and for about 20 minutes in total.
   
4. Sterilise bottles in the oven and decant.
   
5. Leave to cool.

 

[Harvestman]

Fruit cheese is apprently the traditional use for the pulp that is left when you have strained off the juice to make a jelly. The basic recipe is add a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit pulp, and simmer it until it thickens so that it starts to come away from the side of the pan. Let it cool, and then you should be able to stick it in a loaf tin lined with greaseproof paper, and then wrap it in clingfilm.

I like to cut mine into thickish slices (say an inch) and invdividually wrap them. Then you just tear a bite sized piece off as needed. Lots of calories in a small package.

If you are feeling posh you can dust it in icing sugar too, and if you get a really firm texture you can slice it thinly and serve it with cold meats.

I've only ever done the above with apple, but it worked brilliantly and the basic principle is the same for any fruit, so long as you have enough pulp. Essentially make jam, and keep going!

 

[g4ghb]

Ah I see - like a fruit leather......

How you would remove the pips so it isn't a hideous teeth filling gritty, pippy 'treat' is another matter

 

[Everything Mac]

Ah I see - like a fruit leather......

How you would remove the pips so it isn't a hideous teeth filling gritty, pippy 'treat' is another matter

I was thinking that myself. - we usually make blackberry syrup which then goes on a mix of oats and greek style yoghurt with honey for breakfast - try it; it's nice!

should have given that a go with all those cherries we had!