Sloe gin season

I made my first batch last year, delicious stuff…(once I was sure that I was picking proper sloe berries, and not some poisonous berry) It’s a sweet drink and seems quite strong, you can drink it neat or with some tonic and ice. I’ve heard about recipes with almonds, which sounds lovely, maybe I’ll try that this year....

Ingredients

450g/1lb sloes
170g/6oz sugar
1 bottle of gin
2 empty bottles (recycle your own, or buy from supplier such as Lakeland Ltd)


method

Choose ripe sloes and wash, dry and prick them. The best ones are supposed to be picked after the first frost- If you can’t wait, stick them in the freezer for a few days…
Fill the bottles halfway up with fruit and sugar and top up with the gin. Cork well and store for 3 months or much longer. (so if you do now, in time for Christmas) shake it occasionally. When your ready to drink it, strain the gin through muslin into a clean bottle.

Illustration © Lois Blackburn, www.loisblackburn.co.uk for more.

Blackberry and apple crumble

Last night I made another blackberry and apple crumble, a staple of this time of year. It seems impossible to go out for a walk right now, without coming home laden with blackberries. I’ve just had a neighbour offer me apples from their tree to, so I’m sorted! My crumbles are all different, depending on what ingredients I have at hand, I recommend you do the same… see whats in your store cupboard, what around for free, and then experiment. Here is a basic recipe for you to play with:

Ingredients (filling)
3 large Bramley apples (or whatever you can get hold of for free)
150g caster sugar
pinch of cinnamon
a good punnet of blackberries

topping
50g/2oz butter or marg (butter crumbles are lovely, but marg works just fine)
110g/4oz plain flour (or I like a mix of flour and oats)
55g/2oz caster sugar
seeds such as linseed or flaked almonds (optional)

method
1. preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas mark 6
2. peel, core and cut apples into slices of chunks
3. add a splash of water to a pan, the sugar and cinnamon and gently sauté the apples until slightly cooked
4. add the blackberries to the apples and stir gently
5. to make the topping, lightly rub butter or marg into the flour (or flour oat mix) add the sugar an rub into crumbs.
6. spoon the apples and blackberries into a shallow, ovenproof dish, sprinkle over crumb mixture
7. cover with seed or flaked almonds if desired
8. place in the oven for about 20-30 mins or until light golden brown.
9. serve with icecream, or cream or yogurt or custard!

It freezes well, allowing you to take advantage of the glut of fruit.

Today’s illustration ‘blackberries’ © Lois Blackburn www.loisblackburn.co.uk for more

Hedgerow Jam

Around here there is an unending supply of blackberries at this time of the year, some of the other ingredients in this jam are a bit harder to forage, but I found enough last year to make this recipe, (you can always exchange ingredients if you have more of one and less of another) we’re about to eat the last jar from last years batch! Lovely spooned onto hot Porrage….

This fantastic virtually ‘free food’ recipe is from the ‘Women’s Institute, Jams, Pickles & Chutneys’ by Midge Thomas

225g (8oz) rose hips
225g (8oz) haws
225g (8oz) rowan berries
225g (8oz) sloes
450g (1lb) crab apples
450g (1lb) blackberries
450g (1lb) elderberries
115g (4oz) hazelnuts, chopped
900 g (2lb) sugar, plus the weight of the fruit pulp

1. wash and clean all the fruit well. Put the rose hips, haws, rowan berries, sloes and crab apples in a large preserving pan and add water to cover. Cook until all the fruit is tender- about 1 hour
2. sieve the fruits and weigh the resulting pulp. Put the pulp back into the washed preserved pan and add the blackberries, elderberries and chopped nuts. Simmer for about 15mins
3. add the 900g (2lb) of sugar plus as much extra sugar as the weight of the pulp. Cook over a low heat to dissolve the sugar and then boil rapidly until the setting point is reached. Remove any scum
4. pour into cooled, sterilised jars, seal and label.

Todays illustration, rosehips and hedgerow jam, pen and ink © Lois Blackburn, please go to www.loisblackburn.co.uk for more

whinberry, (whinberry, bilberry) muffins

Oh what beauties we found on our walk today. Dark blue/purple plump little berries, also known as Black Whortleberry, Burren Myrtle, Dyeberry, Huckleberry, Whortleberry...free food, great fun to pick, all the children helped, eat and dyed their fingers pinky purple. Here's a recipe to show them off..

makes 8

115g/4oz/1 cup plain flour
15ml/1 tbsp baking powder
pinch of salt
65g/2half oz/half cup of soft light brown sugar
1 egg
175ml/6fl oz/3quarter cup milk
45ml/3 tbsp veg oil
10ml/2tsp ground cinnamon
150g/5oz/1 and quarter cups whinberries

1. Preheat the oven to 190oC/375oF/Gas mark 5. Grease eight (or more) muffin tins.
2. with an electric mixer, beat together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, egg, milk, veg oil and cinnamon until smooth.
3. fold the whinberries into the flour mix
4. spoon the mixture into the prepared tins, filling them about two thirds full. Bake for 25 mins, or till golden brown
5. leave to cool in the tins for 10 mins, then transfer the buns to wire rack to cool completely.

Todays illustration is 'whinberry'© Lois Blackburn, www.loisblackburn.co.uk

free raspberries

I'm very excited, on my walk yesterday I found a hord of wild raspberries! bushes and bushes of them. When we moved into the area, a local man explained that the raspberries where originally planted by the railway men at strategic points along the train track (now turned into walking/cycling/horse trail.)

Not only that but the winberries (Bilberry, whinberry) are out (more about them another day) so with a carton of the raspberry beautys, just got to decide whether its going to be Eaton Mess, Raspberry Fool, raspberry pavlova, or raspberry icecream...