Seasonal Recipe(s!): Blackberries Three Ways.

There’s nothing that signals the end of the summer and the gentle tumble into autumn - whether we’re ready for it or not - than the humble blackberry. Summer is always heralded as the time to harvest, to pick, pull up and gather those things that we’ve worked hard to nurture over the past few month. Or, if you don’t grow your own; it’s the time of year where the very best things are in season from strawberries to salad leaves and delicious new potatoes.

But instead of lamenting the loss of summer and the longer, later and (mostly!) warmer days; it’s quite nice to get excited about a new season and one of the ways we love to do that is through food. Blackberries often get overlooked. Well, not so much overlooked but shoved in a pie and little else done with them. And come the end of summer there are so many lovely things to do with blackberries! We thought it might be nice to share some blackberry-inspired recipes since pretty soon those hedgerows in all of your local parks, fields and woodland walks will be brimming with these juicy purple berries and it’s a free for all as to who gets to them first!

It’s also worth mentioning that incase you didn’t know, we’ve been putting extra effort into our home and kitchen selection and whilst yes we are blowing our own trumpet a lot: Our rainbow-coloured, enamelware selection is pretty perfect for pies, puds, compotes and crumbles and really stands up to being loved and used over and over again. So whether you are hunkered down on a drizzly day over the stove at home; or are lucky enough to be able to get the opportunity to use our beloved enamelware over a campfire or portable stove; we’re sure there’ll be a blackberry recipe you fancy giving a go!

BLACKBERRY KETCHUP

You did indeed read right. This is such an easy recipe and is useful in so many ways too and really makes the most of the early blackberries. Use in the way you would use regular tomato ketchup. Works really well on a roast beef sandwich and particularly well with something like a venison burger or game-y sausage. Makes roughly one 1x 300ml bottle.

YOU’LL NEED:

500g of blackberries

A couple of cloves

300ml of white wine or cider vinegar

170g of sugar

A few juniper berries

1/2 teaspoon of salt

A grind of black pepper to taste.

TO MAKE:

1. Wash the berries. Place in pan and cover with vinegar and 300ml of water.

2. Add all of the spices and gently simmer until soft and cooked down.

3. Take off the heat and press through a sieve to remove and stalks and the cloves and juniper berries.

4. Return the mixture to a clean pan and add the sugar and gently heat until dissolved.

5. Bring to a boil and cook for five minutes.

6. Season and pour into a sterilised bottle and seal with a vinegar-proof cap.

Leave for a couple of days and use within a year. Delicious!

BLACKBERRY-INFUSED WHISKY

Quite possibly the easiest thing ever. So easy infact that it’s a bit rude to even call it a recipe! We know that gin is quite trendy and that sloe gin is often heralded as one of the best flavoured gins but…this is better! If you’re not really a whisky drinker, leaving this tipple to mellow for at least a year leaves you with much more of a syrup-y, almost Port sort-of-a beverage. If you can wait that long!

YOU’LL NEED:

Blackberries (enough to fill the jar you wish to infuse them in - any size is fine).

Sugar

Whisky

TO MAKE:

1. Fill up your chosen jar two thirds of the way with blackberries.

2. Sprinkle sugar over until the bottom half of the fruit is covered. Make sure your berries are dry for this so the sugar doesn’t stick to them too much.

3. Top up the jar with a cheap whisky, close the lid and gently shake.

4. Store in a dark place and shake once a day until all of the sugar is dissolved.

5. Decant the whisky into a bottle and store for at least six months or as long as you can for extra depth of flavour.

Make sure to pile the leftover blackberries into some whipped cream, ice-cream or think of something else great to do with them as they are DELICIOUS and shouldn't go to waste!

NO-CHURN BLACKBERRY AND LIQUORICE ICE-CREAM

I know, it’s usually blackcurrant and liquorice BUT, this combination works beautifully with early slightly-sour hedgerow blackberries. It’s the easiest to make and requires barely anytime or a fancy ice-cream maker.

YOU’LL NEED:

An unwaxed lemon (zest and juice of)

450g of blackberries

397g tin of condensed milk

600ml of whipping cream

A couple of sticks of soft black liquorice

TO MAKE:

1. Put the lemon zest and juice in a bowl and add the berries. Mash roughly with a potato masher.

2. In another bowl whisk the cream and condensed milk until soft peaks appear and no more.

3. Pour the fruit mixture into the cream and mix well. Slice the soft liquorice and fold through.

4. Pour into a container and cover with cling-film. Freeze for at least four hours.

And that’s it! Three lovely (easy!) recipes to showcase those blackberries. Shop our kitchenalia HERE for the perfect kitchen additions and make sure to let us know if you try and of these OR if you grab any of our lovely kitchen bits!