Something to do with pears at this time of year.

Just about to make pear liqueur:

Ingredients

2 ripe pears,

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 prepared vanilla pod

1 cup brandy or vodka

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1

Wash and chop one pear, discarding the seeds and core. Leave the skin on.

2

Place one chopped pear and the vanilla in a sealable glass jar and cover with brandy. The jar should have enough room to add another cup of liquid later in the process. Seal and shake, then let steep for 5 days.

3

Chop the second pear, discarding the seeds and core. Add it to a pot, along with the water and sugar, then stir and bring to a boil on medium heat, about 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Let the syrup mixture cool.

4

Once cooled, pour the syrup (with the fruit) into the steeping jar. Shake and let steep for 2 days. Taste, and if desired flavor is achieved, strain through a fine mesh strainer and then a coffee filter into a bottle or jar.

It's the time of year (late August to September) when the Damsons, sloes, blackberries, crab apples, rosehips and elderberries all become ready to pick

Between us we picked a bowl full of Hawthorns.

Here is how to make the Hawthorn Berry Jelly:

1/ Cover the hawthorn berries in water. Add water to the saucepan until it reaches the top of the berries in the pan.

2/ simmer them in the pan for about hour. Mushing them up occasionally with a potato masher.

3/ Drain the hawthorn berry mush into a bowl through several sheets of muslin, for several hour or even overnight. Do not squeeze or the jelly will be cloudy.

4/ Measure the liquid/ juice that you manage to obtain and then add 7 parts sugar to 10 parts juice.

5/A the juice of a lemon.

6/ Place the lot in a pan and then bring it up to a rolling boil.

7/ Boil for around 20-30 minutes, removing the scum that forms at the top regularly. If you don't remove the scum, the jelly will be cloudy.

8/ After about 15-20 minutes. Dip a spoon in and then place the spoon in a cool place. If the liquid sets on the spoon, it is ready.

9/Pour the liquid into a clean sterilised jar and place it in the fridge to set.

10/Try on toast instead of jam, it's delicious.

You can strain the pulp through a fine sieve, if you don't mind the Jelly being cloudy. It makes the process quicker.

Ingredients:

A bowl of Hawthorns

A Lemon (juiced)

Sugar

Water

I followed my method for Crab Apple Jelly. Please have a look at this post, if you want more detail.

Enjoy!

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.

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.