Blackberries - what else can I do with them???

[FAQ]

Blackerry and Apple crumble.......ermm

what else?

Just been and collected loads with the DS's, and promised them at least one more trip out go to collect more - but what will I do with them all??

Muffins?

Erm....... They are nice in a stew with pork.

this might help

they freeze well!

variation on a theme, but made these backberry and apple pasties last year and they were nice.
And you could make a load and freeze them.

thanks - I just know that as nice as blackeryy and apple crumble and custard is, it's going to get boring the amount of blackberries I'm going to end up with lol

I make blackberry and apple pancakes.
Whisk wholemeal SR flour with soya milk, add just a wee bit of sugar. Mix in chopped apple and blackberries - gently otherwise it all turns to purple mush. Fry
Lovely for breakfast!

I have made a blackberry & apple crumble every week since the school holidays started and none of us have got sick of them yet.

However, some of those other ideas might just be worth investigating. Thanks BCNS

Pesto - just the ones we picked this afternoon will probably do us for a weeks worth of B&A crumble - and there's going to be more picked soon..........eeek!!!

Don't forget you can freeze them too FAQ. I have an icecream tub's worth in our freezer, ready for when the season's over

Blackberry & apple jam? (or jelly if you're not keen on pippy jam)

go onto bbc food website and they can come up with some great recipes.

I'm not sure where to start with Jam - although i'd love to make some.

A few years ago my mum was having a clear out and offered me all her jam making stuff - including a HUGE pan for making it in - at the time I could never picture myself making jam so turned it down - wish I hadn't now.

Oh I'll put plenty in the freezer definitely

Oh oh, how about this?

Remove juice from the very ripest berries using a juice extractor or pressing through several layers of muslin. Allow the thich, dark juice to stand undisturbed in a warm room. Do not stir, cool or add anything to it. In a few hours it will have set to the consistency of a light junket!!!
(all credit to Food For Free, by Richard Mabey)

Jam is not difficult, but I would only make a little bit to start with anyway - if you make a huge jam pan full and you don't like it it's a bit of a waste of effort - as a rule you need about the same amount of sugar as fruit - if you do blackberry & apple normal sugar (rather than the one with added pectin) is fine as the apples have plenty of pectin. Boil up the fruit with a splash of water until it's as mushy/firm as you like it, then add the sugar - the fruit won't cook any more when sugar is added. Cook for about 20 mins-ish depending on how much you have, then check if it will set by freezing a plate, put a bit of jam on the plate & if it goes "wrinkly" when you push it with your finger it's done. Sterilise jars by putting them in the oven for 10 mins-ish, then fill.

Sorry, that's not very scientific sounding, I'm a bit "bish-bash-bosh" about it all, but I love making jam, it's really good fun & you never know exactly how it'll turn out - last years plum jam for example set so well it's like wine gum jam & is totally impossible to spread

You can do blackberry jam by itself without the pips.... Gently boil blackberries with some lemon juice till pretty mushy, squash what you can through a normal sieve - bin the contents of sieve. For each pint of juice/pulp add one pound of preserving/jam sugar, heat gently till sugar melts then boil rapidly till goes wrinkly on a plate as Jenpet describes! 'tis ewssence of blackberries without the pips, and quick and easy!

oh I've got the jam recipe - bizarrely I did end up getting my mum's "old faithful" jam recipe book.

We have just finished LAST YEAR's blackberries out of the freezer. I made a hot fruit sauce out of them with some added raspberries, blueberries and blackcurrants (but think could have just used brambles on their own) to serve with ice cream when we had friends over for lunch today.

Frozen berries also good for adding to home made smoothies.

cheesecake
made killer one yesterday lemon ginger with blackberries (lots!) on top

ginger biscuits butter for base
fresh ginger and lemon zest and juice with philly and mascarpone
blackberries on top
yum!

FAQ.
You can make small ammounts of jam in your microwave check the instruction book and the recipe book if one came with your model.
You have jars you said what about wax circles to on top the jam? Do you have lids with your jars? You need cellephane circles as well if you don't have lids for your jars. And sugar I can't remember how much.
My Mum used to make jam I wish I had paid more attention.
apples she used lots with blackberry's crab apples she said they were best or cooking apples.
hope thats of help to you. Have you tried doing a search on blackerry's perhaps not you might get millions to sort.
Poly

Blackberry sponge cake is lovely. Just make a normal sponge cake mixture and stir a hefty helping of blackberries in gently at the end. It's lovely and moist.

Autumn pudding.
Like summer pudding but use stewed blackberry and apples.

Oh god, bramble pie with custard just brought back vivid childhood memories!

my Dp made a Rhubarb and blackberries crumble...it was beyond delicious!!!!!!

so far i've made blackberry and pear crumble, blackberry and apple pie, had a lot of blackberries and muesli/porridge with blackberries for breakfast and am planning some blackberry muffins (using a blueberry recipe and substituting). we've also got people coming for sunday lunch this weekend and they will be getting blackberry and raspberry pavlova!
was also contemplating a blackberry version of sloe gin - haven't made this before but sloe gin is lovely
the blackberry version is 450g berries, 225g caster sugar, a litre of brandy. just wash the berries and put in a sterilised jar, pour over sugar and booze, shake and seal. keep it in a dark cupboard and shake every other day for a week, then just shake once a week for a couple of months. they say you can drink it after that but with the sloe gin it was best after a year. the sloe one is fabulous with champagne, used like cassis in kir - ie only a little bit in the bottom of the flute - and i bet the blackberry brandy would be similar
i think you can also make blackberry vinegar but not really sure how. they would also be maybe nice in one of those almondy tarts, you know that are normally made with pears - is it called frangipane, that stuff? but dont have a recipe

just made great blackberry cake:

combine 5 oz each of butter, ground almonds, caster sugar, SR flour plus 1 egg, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp cinnamon. Grease and line a 23cm tin (springform if you have it), put half mixture in tin - gently press down with fork to cover the base. Add 9oz of blackberries then blob on the rest of the mixture with a spoon - fruit doesn't need to be completely covered. cook for an hour at 180/160 fan/ gas 4. They reckon it freezes well but it has been finished too fast!

I invented a nice quick pudding too - toast some porridge oats with a bit of butter and sugar on a baking tray (melt butter in pan first then combine sug and oats), keep a beady eye on tray - maybe 10 mins for them to go golden and crunchy. Layer up oats in a bowl with greek yogurt (honey mixed in), slightly squashed blackberries, stewed apple
and some muscovado sugar on top. I did this in glass tumblers so you could see the layers and added some creme de cassis too - or whisky might be nice as its a bastardised version of cranachan. Yum!