Blackberries

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Just tasted my batch from earlier this afternoon made with 50:50 fruit and sugar. Slightly tart but nice fruity flavour.

ideally I would wait another couple of weeks but there are quite a few other pickers around here.
 

Pat "5mph"

A kilogrammicaly challenged woman
Moderator
Location
Glasgow
Blackberries just getting ripe here: I add them to oats :hungry: or ice cream :hungry: or yoghurt.
Don't like jam so I don't make it, but @cosmicbike's pie sounds worth foraging for.
Was telling one of the neighbourgh's kids to pick from the fruits of the forest bushes I've planted in the back common green, the mother says "oh, I've just got some from tesco" the son says "what if they're poisonous?" :rolleyes:
 

Alex H

Legendary Member
Location
Alnwick
the edible ones... do they seem to be a lot less sweet this year?

I've just made up some blackberry & apple leathers and can honestly say they are a little on the tart side. I don't normally add sugar to fruit but I can see the next batch getting some...

OK, I'll admit I did not have a clue as to what you were making (leathers :unsure:), so I looked it up.

There must be a good reason to go to all that trouble - what do you use the finished article for?
 

youngoldbloke

The older I get, the faster I used to be ...
The early ones are always less sweet IME. I don't think all blackberries are the same - there are lots of different varieties in the wild and around here the early ones are generally bigger, sometimes huge, but less sweet. The best ones always ripen later, and tend to be smaller, though there are big variations, bush to bush, and in different locations.
 
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn

SatNavSaysStraightOn

Changed hemispheres!
OK, I'll admit I did not have a clue as to what you were making (leathers :unsure:), so I looked it up.

There must be a good reason to go to all that trouble - what do you use the finished article for?
you get a fruit leather which lasts with the vitamin C content in tact for about 12 months or more.... it is an old fashioned preserving method and we have also found children love them despite there being no added sugar and my basic recipes being fruit + baking apples. Sometimes I use an dessert apple instead, but usually a cooking apple which is needed to prevent them from being brittle.

We have also found them excellent for taking on tour with us as well...
One of my favourite sites for various leathers is this one http://nouveauraw.com/raw-recipies/fruit-leathers/ so many to choose from.:hyper:
 

Ganymede

Veteran
Location
Rural Kent
you get a fruit leather which lasts with the vitamin C content in tact for about 12 months or more.... it is an old fashioned preserving method and we have also found children love them despite there being no added sugar and my basic recipes being fruit + baking apples. Sometimes I use an dessert apple instead, but usually a cooking apple which is needed to prevent them from being brittle.

We have also found them excellent for taking on tour with us as well...
One of my favourite sites for various leathers is this one http://nouveauraw.com/raw-recipies/fruit-leathers/ so many to choose from.:hyper:
That's an amazing site, SatNav. Do you have a dehydrator? I've often thought of getting one as we have a lot of spare fruit here in Kent.
 
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn

SatNavSaysStraightOn

Changed hemispheres!
That's an amazing site, SatNav. Do you have a dehydrator? I've often thought of getting one as we have a lot of spare fruit here in Kent.
yep - as well as an Omniblend equivalent. Not that I am a raw foodie, but I do incorporate some of it into our diet.
 
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn

SatNavSaysStraightOn

Changed hemispheres!
What brand of dehydrator, if it's not too boring of me to ask?
Excalibur. I have the 5 drawer version without timer - cheapest option. managed to pick up it 2nd hand for under £100 with a little bit of patience of ebay. Been brilliant and in use at least once a week. Have various raw bread recipes and kale crisp recipes I do as well. All posted over on http://www.goodfoodforum.com/threads/sweet-miso-kale-crisps.334/ and http://www.goodfoodforum.com/threads/raw-onion-bread.1721/ on one of Shaun's other forums.
 

Ganymede

Veteran
Location
Rural Kent
Excalibur. I have the 5 drawer version without timer - cheapest option. managed to pick up it 2nd hand for under £100 with a little bit of patience of ebay. Been brilliant and in use at least once a week. Have various raw bread recipes and kale crisp recipes I do as well. All posted over on http://www.goodfoodforum.com/threads/sweet-miso-kale-crisps.334/ and http://www.goodfoodforum.com/threads/raw-onion-bread.1721/ on one of Shaun's other forums.
Thanks SatNav!
 

annedonnelly

Girl from the North Country
Location
Canonbie
you get a fruit leather which lasts with the vitamin C content in tact for about 12 months or more.... it is an old fashioned preserving method and we have also found children love them despite there being no added sugar and my basic recipes being fruit + baking apples. Sometimes I use an dessert apple instead, but usually a cooking apple which is needed to prevent them from being brittle.

We have also found them excellent for taking on tour with us as well...
One of my favourite sites for various leathers is this one http://nouveauraw.com/raw-recipies/fruit-leathers/ so many to choose from.:hyper:
Do you just purée and then dehydrate? I see some other sites cook the fruit first.
Sounds like something I can try in the oven at a low temp.
 
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn

SatNavSaysStraightOn

Changed hemispheres!
Do you just purée and then dehydrate? I see some other sites cook the fruit first.
Sounds like something I can try in the oven at a low temp.
It depends on if I am using cooking apples or dessert apples. yes with cooking apples - cook them to a mash, then puree them, add the pureed, uncooked but sieved blackberries to them. If using dessert apples then I don't cook - but I do peel both for obvious reasons! Needs a very low temp over a very long time so as not to destroy the vit c.
 
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