Blackberry recipe

poodlegirl · Post by **poodlegirl** » 10 Aug 2008, 17:51

does anyone have any good blackberry recipes
my kids love to pick and eat them and we seem to allways have tonnes , we have made crumbles, pies and crumble cake i also freeze them but need fresh ideas ! )c+

Post by Mo » 10 Aug 2008, 20:05

Do you make jam and jelly?
I prefer my pies with a bit of apple mixed in. And there are plenty of windfall apples that need using up just now.

poodlegirl · Post by **poodlegirl** » 10 Aug 2008, 20:16

yep mo i do put apples in as well,no never made jam or jelly from scratch any recipes for them i know its supposed to be easy my mum used to make jam when i was little but no idea on quantities ! :oops:

Meanqueen · Post by **Meanqueen** » 10 Aug 2008, 20:26

If I get any blackberries I boil them with a bit of sugar, tiny bit of water, mash them up, then force them through a fine sieve or squeeze them through muslin, and keep the juice in a jug in the fridge to dilute for drinks. Or freeze it in an ice cube tray, or make ice lollies with it. I can't stand chewing the lumpy bits in the middle and picking the pips out of my teeth.
)t'

Ilona

Post by Mo » 10 Aug 2008, 20:38

My general recipe for jam is equal weight of fruit and sugar. Boil the fruit with enough water to stop it burning, till soft (not too much water, as the fruit will make juice and you'll only have to boil it away again). Blackberries will just need heating up, they are soft already. Add sugar, stir till dissolved then boil till it sets, keep testing a drop on a cool saucer to see if it will set. Very unscientific, but you can feel the jam getting less liquid as it gets near setting.

I've not made jelly for ages. Too much faff. Boil the fruit with some water, put into a muslin jelly-bag to drip into a bowl. You have to hang the bag up and leave it till it's finished dripping. Don't try to hurry things by squeezing it as this will make the jelly cloudy. Then put 1 pound of sugar to each pint of liquid and boil till it sets.

My favourite jams are plum, damson and greengage. The soft fruits make jam that tastes nice when fresh but seems to lose flavour if you store it long. And I make marmalade for OH, but that uses more water and sugar to fruit.

poodlegirl · Post by **poodlegirl** » 10 Aug 2008, 20:58

thanks so much !
my girls cant wait jam and juice are a definate now thank you , not sure about the jelly my cats would have a field day with something swinging in the kitchen !lol
will try using my plums as well for jam have quite a few that look ok without bugs on and in . )t'

Post by Mo » 10 Aug 2008, 22:13

I look at my plums carefully. Some have blotchy skins and I'm suspicious, so I cut them in half, remove any dubious bits and cook them up for jam. My kichen table is covered with trays of plums ripening - if I leave them to ripen on the tree the wasps get them.

suffolkhens · Post by **suffolkhens** » 12 Aug 2008, 17:05

I made my 1st batch of blackberry jam today, mainly to get to the berries before the wasps took over the hedges in my garden.

Only got a kilo of ripe berries so used 1/2 kilo of sugar. I used a recipe from Silver Spoon (a fantastic italian book) which worked well for the 8 kilos of plums I got from my neighbours orchard.

I'll see how it goes down with OH and daughter as I don't have a sweet tooth!

poodlegirl · Post by **poodlegirl** » 13 Aug 2008, 21:31

I made the juice today, thanks meanqueen !
made such a mess everthing has purple splashs ! the hens loved the odd wormy one YUK
will try jams when i have saved enough jars only got a couple at the mo we have quite a healthy supply of berries so will be picking most days ,keeps kids busy !
cheers all )c+