Kitchen Garden Forum

Please, what can I do with 432lbs of blackberries?? have made loads of blackberry jelly (Delia says it only keeps for a month) Nobody in the family eats them au naturel. Anyway to keep them longer than a month?????

ps: okay, 432lbs, is slight exaggeration. I get at least l l/2 lbs each visit to the lottie (every other day)

Hello Mazmezroz
I think that there comes a time in a glut when you've eaten them, frozen them, bottled them, jammed them and given them away that there's not much more you can do except leave them for the birds!!!

John

PS We've done all this and at the moment are stewing several handfuls every few days with windfall apples to make a little extra to put on top of the cornflakes at breakfast time!
PPS How did you make you're blackberry jelly? Why does it only keep for a month or so - it should last the year?

I wondered why St Delia said it should only last a month ....

Take 1 lb blackberries, add 6 fl oz water and stew till soft. Mush up fruit, then add l lb sugar, juice of one lemon and stir till sugar dissolved (about 15 mins). Boil fairly gently for 8 mins.

Pour into seive lined with muslin which is placed over oven heated glass bowl. Pour hot jelly straight into oven heated jam jar, cover with wax disk.

I keep it in the fridge, and have made 4 lbs of it, and know we can't get through 4 lbs of jelly in one month. Why would it not keep longer??? Dunno!

Have you tried blackberry syrup? Great with ice cream, in porridge or making Hot Blackberry with lemon drink in winter.

Need: Campden tablets (for sterlising,) from
Chemists,Winemaking shops or Health Food
shops.
Blackberries, Sugar, Glass screw top bottles

Qtr pint water to each pound of fruit
8 - 12 oz sugar to each pint of juice.

Simmer fruit with added water until soft. (About 30 mins), squashing from time to time.
Strain through a jelly bag, supported in a colander into a saucepan leaving for a few hours until all liquid has drained through without squeezing bag.
Measure out juice. Reheat in saucepan, adding sugar & stirring until sugar is dissolved. Do not boil.
Cool until tepid. Pour into warmed sterilised glass bottles, adding one crushed dissolved Camden tablet per bottle.
Will store for 12 - 18 months.

There's a Blackberry Brandy recipe in this month's Good Food. I can post it on 'recipes' if that's any use.

Tigger, you do ask some daft questions... Yeeeeeeeessssss

mmmmmmmm brandy! Sounds good

Hi mazmezroz-
do you still have blackberries? I have a recipe for blackberry gin- Its BBBeautiful
I have made 4 litres of the stuff- and have another 9lbs of blackberries in the freezer.....
Its an old recipe of my mums- and it keeps forever. let me know if anyone wants the recipe?
wygela

Wygela, that sounds terrific! Could you let me have recipe, as yes, I still have loads of blackberries ...!

I have posted the recipe in a new topic..