The hedgerows where I live are full of ripe blackberries at the moment and I have discovered new places to pick them not too far from home. I didn’t manage to do any fruit picking this year as I found… Read More ›
blackberries
Baking Birthday Cakes in a New Kitchen
Having recently moved house, not only do I have endless boxes to unpack, I also have a new kitchen and oven to get used to. So making birthday cakes for friends and family was a good excuse to try them… Read More ›
Crab Apple and Rosemary Jelly
If you start looking for crab apples in the Autumn, you will be amazed at how many you will find. A couple of years ago my friend Gilly gave me a large bag of pink crab apples from her mum’s… Read More ›
Making fruit jellies: Redcurrant and Blackberry Jellies
I haven’t made a lot of jellies in the past for a couple of reasons. Firstly they seemed all a bit too much effort, and secondly I thought it was a waste of good fruit: a lot of it gets… Read More ›
Making Blackberry Gin and Vodka – and Llama Trekking…
You may recall that recently I have given tap dancing, cheerleading, indoor sky diving, wakeboarding and singing a go, all thanks to a group I belong to with the aim of trying out new experiences. Each month or so one… Read More ›
Pear and Blackberry Muffins
So the days are drawing in and the air and light are different. Autumn is on its way. Which, while it means an end to the long days of summer, is still a good thing in itself. New fruits and… Read More ›
Blackberry Cake Bars
In my memory, blackberry picking always took place in the cold on the windswept downs of the Isle of Wight. So every year I am surprised when blackberries appear in abundance in August. Luckily we have some at the end… Read More ›
Blackberry and Apple Tart with (Surprisingly Delicious) Wholemeal Spelt Pastry
If you have any blackberries left in your freezer from the Autumn, and don’t want to make another crumble, this is a great weeknight, family dessert. It is essentially a wholemeal pastry case filled with deliciously soft apples and blackberries. The pastry does not have any… Read More ›
Deep Blackberry and Apple Streusel – or posh crumble, perfect for entertaining
The picture really does not do this dessert justice. I had thought I would try to take one of a slice the following morning, in the daylight and with time to set it up nicely. As it was I barely… Read More ›
Homemade Sloe Gin, or Life in the Sloe Lane
You will have to forgive the pun – I couldn’t resist it after my recent post about blackberry picking… Once you start looking around it’s amazing how much you can find in the hedgerows. Sloes are the fruit of the… Read More ›
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