I was given this recipe by an 88 year old lady,it was her mothers recipe.
 
2lbs.dark ripe plums.
2lbs demerera sugar.
1 teacup malt vinegar.
cloves.
Stick cinnamon.
Stone jar.
 
Wipe fruit clean & put one clove in each end of plum & push 3 small pieces of stick cinnamon into stone.

Place in jar with vinegar. Stand jar in a saucepan of water. When vinegar gets hot, gradually add sugar and cook.When the top plum is cooked,they are ready.This takes about 2hours. Keep topping up water in saucepan.
 
 
I adapted the recipe as follows:-
After putting cloves into plums, put aside.
Meantime warm vinegar stir in sugar & add a couple of broken cinnamon sticks. Keep stirring until sugar is dissolved. Place plums in syrup,bring back to heat & poach plums for about 4 minutes. Remove plums, place in sterilized jars. Bring syrup back to boil & boil until slightly thickened. Remember it will further thicken as it cools. Pour syrup over plums & seal. By this method I used a further 2lbs plums.

You will need wide-mouthed jars.

Avril's Dorset Apple Cake - looks gorgeous!

Dorset apple cake; I use my windfall apples, it is probably the cake that gets most positive comments 😉

225g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

450g cooking apples

Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

225g caster sugar, plus extra for dredging

3 large eggs

225g self-raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

25g ground almonds

1 tbsp demerara sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease a deep 23-24cm springform cake tin and line with baking paper. Peel, core and cut the apples into 1cm pieces, and toss with the lemon juice.

2. Using an electric hand whisk, cream together the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, adding a little flour with each addition to keep the mixture smooth.

3. Sift the remaining flour and the baking powder into the bowl and fold in with the ground almonds. Drain the apple pieces well, then stir into the mixture.

4. Spoon into the prepared cake tin, lightly level the top and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until well-risen, brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If the cake starts to look a little too brown, cover with a sheet of baking paper after about 45 minutes.

5. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.

Remove the cake from the tin and place on a serving plate. Dredge heavily with the extra caster sugar. Cut the cake into generous wedges and serve warm with a spoonful of clotted cream, if you like.

Avrils Elderberry Wine.

And elderberry wine; they are plentiful at the moment. It tastes better than it smells. 😉

Ingredients:

1.5kg Elderberries.

1.5kg Sugar

1tsp Citric Acid.

4.5l Water

1 sachet of brewers Yeast and 1 teaspoon of Nutrient

Method:

Strip the berries from the stalks using a fork.

Crush them in a bowl and pour on the boiling water and add the sugar.

Let it cool to until warm (21 degrees approx) then add the yeast, nutrient and citric acid.

Loosely cover for 3 days and then decant into dark bottles (stops the wine losing its colour) and leave with either an air lock or cotton wool until the vigorous ferment has completed.

Once the ferment has completed siphon off into the final dark bottles to lay down for a minimum of 6 months.

Enjoy on its own or as an addition to a summer martini!

Elderberry Jam

A straight forward and very satisfying recipe.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes - wash and pick over the fruit.

Cooking Time: Takes 30 minutes to make

Ingredients:

500 gm of elderberries

50 ml water

500 gm jam sugar

Method:

Remove the elderberries from the flower heads. This is easiest done with a fork.

Wash the fruit thoroughly and put into a saucepan.

Add enough water to cover the base of the pan and cook the fruit until it begins to split.

Add the sugar and boil until a rolling boil develops.

Cool a plate in the fridge and then after 5 minutes of the rolling boil, put a small amount of the jam on the plate and push gently with a fingernail. If a crust is present the jam is ready. If not, repeat the process every few minutes until the jam is ready.

Using a cup as a ladle pour the jam into sterilised bottles and put the lid on.

Tips

Jam sugar has added pectin, which guarantees a good set.

The blue black jam should be eaten within a week of opening.

You will need a few jam jars with tight-fitting lids so start collecting glass jars rather than recycling them.

Over the weekend I took Young Dave foraging, with nothing but a stove, pan and water.

We foraged Stinging Nettles, Dead Nettles, Goose Grass, Ground Elder, Cow Parsley, Wild Garlic, Wild Onions, Hedge Garlic, Comfrey, Mallow, Sheep Sorrel, Thistle and the packets that is created by the Hog Weed plant before the flowers emerge.

I then cooked up the ingredients to make a wild foraged soup. I did add a little chicken stock, Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

The soup was remarkably good. The onion and garlic gave it a very nice flavour, but this was cut by a lemony twist from the Sheep's Sorrell.

I guess the biggest surprise was how good the thistle stalks were, after stripping and cooking them. It gave the soup some good textured bites similar to asparagus in texture.

The remains of the soup can be seen above after we had eaten most of it.

I also showed him how to find Pig Nuts. See my other post.

2 1/2 lb.green tomatoes washed & quartered.
2 1/2 lb. cooking apples peeled & cored.
2 lb.onions peeled & quartered.
6 cloves garlic peeled & crushed.
1lb.raisins.
1lb.6ozs.soft brown or demerera sugar.
1oz.pickling spice.(tied in gauze or muslin).
1/2 teasp.cayenne pepper.
2 level dessertsp.ground ginger.
1/2teasp.salt.
3pints malt vinegar.
 
Using the med. blade of a mincer,mince tomatoes,onions and apples.
place in a pan,then add the raisins. Add the garlic,cayenne,salt,ginger & sugar. Mix everything together thoroughly. Tie mixed spice parcel to handle of pan allowing it to dangle in pan. Pour in vinegar,bring
to simmering point, skim any scum from surface. Simmer gently,uncovered,
for about 3 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.When vinegar is
almost absorbed and chutney has thickened to a soft consistency & a spoon drawn across base leaves a trail, then chutney is ready. Be careful not to overcook as chutney will thicken further as it cools.

Pour chutney into hot sterilized jars,filling to top.Cover with waxed disc & seal immeadiately.

2lb.stoned halved ripe plums
1 1/2lb granulated sugar
8 fl.oz.water
 
Simmer the fruit in water until tender. Meanwhile, put the sugar into a bowl & place in a pre-heated oven (gas4. 350*F 180*C).When the plums are cooked, add the hot sugar, tipping the pan & stirring gently until the sugar is dissolved completely -it's very important no sugar crystals should be left or the jam will be sugary. Test this by coating the back of a wooden spoon.

As soon as it has dissolved, turn the heat to high & boil rapidly for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat & test a little on a very cold plate.When it is cool, push the jam with your finger. If a crinkly skin forms, the jam is ready. If not ready, boil again for a further 5 minutes.

Repeat as necessary.Ignore any scum that may form during cooking but,if any remains,skim & add a small knob of butter.

Leave jam to settle for 15 minutes to settle, then pour into warm, sterilized jars, fill right to top then cover with a waxed disc & seal tightly.

A friend of mine just sent me this recipe for Damson Cheese. It's apparently yummy with cheese & biscuits!

At this time of year we get one of natures plentiful and most delicious foraging treats - blackberries.

Many will get consumed during the foraging and collection.

The sloes are also ready early this year - August. I always freeze my sloes if there hadn't been a frost, before I make sloe gin, as this stops the enzymic activity and splits the skins.