A Feast of Blackberries - The Great British Blackberry Recipe Round Up

A huge thank you to all the lovely cooks, bakers and bloggers who joined The Great British Blackberry Recipe Round Up.  There are so many delicious recipes and they are really varied, everything from Spiced Blackberry Pulled Pork to Blackberry Lollipops and of course cakes, desserts and preserves.  Don't take my word for it, here they all are below:


1. Blackberry Frozen Yogurt and Granola Breakfast Pops - Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary
2. Blackberry and Clotted Cream Ripple - Sudden Lunch
3. Blackberry and Apple Swirl Buns - Mint Custard
4. Blackberry Gin - Mint Custard


5. Blackberry Pear Crisp - A Palatable Pastime
6.Wild Blackberry Jam - I'd much rather bake than
7. Bramble Blackwells - Foodie Quine
8. Spiced Blackberry Jam - Farmersgirl Kitchen


9. Peach and Blackberry Galette with Lavender and Thyme Honey - A Girl and her Home
10. Blackberry and Oat Muffins - Rough Measures
11. Blackberry and Lemon Bake - Food Jam


12. Blackforest Chocolate Brownies - Sew White
13. Summer Burst Berry Cake - Belleau Kitchen
14. Simple Seasonal Blackberry Cake - Lancashire Food


15. Autumnal Blackberry and Lavender Cobbler - Lancashire Food
16. Blackberries and Rose Geranium Crumble - Lancashire Food
17. Bramble and Vanilla Cordial - Farmersgirl Kitchen
18. Baked Nectarines and Blackberry Surprise - The Peachicks Bakery


19. Summer Fruit Traybake - Sew White
20. Blackberry and Hazelnut Polenta Cake - Mainly Baking
21. Blackberry Lollipops - The Hedgecombers


22. Apple and Blackberry Chia Seed Preserve - Nutricious Deliciousness
23. Blackberry and Apple Pie - Chez Maximka
24. Spiced Blackberry Pulled Pork - De Tout Coeur Limousin


25. Double Blackberry Chocolate Gallette - Tin and Thyme
26. Blackberry, Garlic and Bay - De Tout Coeur Limousin
27. Blackberry and Apple Geranium Swirl -Lancashire Food
28. Self-Saucing Blackberry and Apple Pudding - Tales from the Kitchen Shed


29. Blackberry and Apple Cupcakes - Tin and Thyme
30. Blackberry, Lemon and White Chocolate Scones - Baking Queen 74
31.Blackberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake Cups - The Veg Space
32. Blackberry and Hazelnut Flapjacks - Chardonnay and Samphire


33. Blackberry and Apple Cake - Eco-Gites of Lenault
34. Blackberry Fairy Cake Buns (Muffins) - Lavender and Lovage
35. Blackberry, Elderberry and Damson Jelly - JibberJabber UK
I hope this inspires you to make some of these recipes, do let me know if you do.

Labels: Blackberry, Bramble, brownies, cake, cupcakes, dessert, flapjacks, gallette, ice cream, jam, Muffins, Pie, Pulled Pork, Scones, The Great British Blackberry Recipe Round-Up, vinegar

posted by Janice @ 19:26 15 Comments

White Currant Jelly-Jam

One of my work colleagues brought some bags of white currants into work for us to help ourselves to.  Well, it would be rude not to, so I brought home a little bag marked 8oz White Currants.  As it was such a small amount currants I wanted to do something that would make the best of them so I did what I usually do and had a search on the internet and found this recipe for White Currant Jam from The Well Seasoned Cook.

It's a strange one, not quite jam, because you sieve the berries, and not quite jelly as it has a slight thickness from the white currant flesh.  Mine looks more like jelly than the picture on The Well Seasoned Cook, so I decided to call it White Currant Jelly-Jam.  It tastes similar to red currant jelly although I think it is a little sweeter, I love the peachy colour which develops as the berries cook and it sets really easily.


Here are some other ideas for fruit jellies that you might like to try

Kavey's Apple Lemon Verbena Jelly - Kavey Eats
Crab Apple Jelly - Fuss Free Flavours
Rochelle's Grape Jelly - It's Not Easy Being Greedy 
Spiced Apple Jelly - Foodie Quine
Plum Jelly: Sunshine in a Jar - Kavey Eats


I'm entering this recipe for the No Waste Food Challenge at Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

Labels: berries, currants, jam, jelly, preserves, summer, white currants

posted by Janice @ 22:20 10 Comments

We're Jammin' - Slow Cooker Challenge Round Up, Aug 2014

The theme for the August Slow Cooker Challenge was 'Preserves' and my regular entrants didn't disappoint.  Sarah from 'Tales from the Garden Shed' brought a ray of French sunshine, and some inspiration,  with her recipe for Peach Jam.

Now this is a brilliant and unusual combination which I would never have though of.  Slow Cooker Carrot, Lemon and Almond Chutney is the entry from Strong as Soup and is reminiscent of middle eastern cuisine.

Baking Queen 74 has taken to jam making in the Slow Cooker with the enthusiasm of a convert!  In her entry for the challenge she brings us two jam recipes a zingy Blueberry and Ginger Jam AND Blackberry Jam  both look really delicious.

My own preserve created in the slow cooker was Lazy, Luscious Beetroot Relish.  The beets were baked in the slow cooker and then the chutney made in the usual way on the stove in only 20 minutes.

Thanks to all who joined me for the slow cooker challenge, look out for the new challenge which will be posted early in September. 

Labels: Blackberry Jam, Blueberry and Ginger Jam, Carrot, chutney, jam, Lemon and Almond Chutney., Peach Jam, Round Up, Slow Cooker Challenge

posted by Janice @ 20:31 4 Comments

Slow Cooker Challenge August - Preserves

August is a month of plenty and a time when traditionally we preserve the fruits and vegetables from our gardens and markets by making jams, jellies, curds, chutney and relish and even some bottling and canning.  The Slow Cooker is ideal for making some preserves and can be used for softening the fruit for those that need a rapid boil on the stove to bring to a set.

Apple and Apricot Chutney

To celebrate the World Jampionships, which take place in August,with winners announced in September, your challenge this month is to make a preserve in your Slow Cooker, write about it on your blog and link the post to the Linky below.



If you would like to take part, then please: 

• Make your recipe in your Slow Cooker and post a photograph and the recipe, or a link to a recipe, on your blog
• Link to Farmersgirl Kitchen
• Use the Slow Cooker Challenge logo in your post
• If you use twitter, tweet your post with @FarmersgirlCook and #SlowCookerChallenge and I will re-tweet it to my followers AND post your picture on the dedicated Pinterest Board. 

Rules: 

• Please do not publish recipes from cookbooks on your blog without permission, they are copyright.
• If you are using recipes from another website, please link to the recipe on the website rather than publishing the recipe.
• One entry per blog.
• Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

Labels: August, chutney, Curd, jam, jelly, preserves, relish, Slow Cooker Challenge, world jampionships

posted by Janice @ 10:20 6 Comments

Berrytastic Strawberry and Blueberry Cake

'Tis the season for berries, and how I love them!  Strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, blueberries, blackberries and currants too, it makes my mouth water just thinking about them.

I tend to start the season, serving berries simply with cream, yogurt or ice cream, but as time passes and the fruits become more abundant, it's nice to try some different ways to enjoy these luscious fruits.

OXO Good Grips sent me this useful three piece berry bowl and colander in which to prepare and store my berries. The bowl had a nice stable base and is just the right size to store a punnet of strawberries, raspberries or blueberries. The matching colander is useful for cleaning your berries before you store them in the lidded bowl. Of course it's not only suitable for berries, but you can use it for rinsing and storing other food stuffs too.

I also received this neat little strawberry hull remover, it works best on large strawberries like the Sweet Eve strawberries from Berry World that arrived with the OXO products.

Three piece Berry Bowl set (RRP £15)
Strawberry huller (RRP £7)

Berrytastic Strawberry and Blueberry Cake

For the cake:
100g soft margarine
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
100g self-raising flour
1 level teaspoon baking powder

Heat the oven to 350F/180C/Gas 4 and grease and line a 7 inch cake tin. I used a deep cake tin to get one sponge but you could split the cake between two tins if preferred.

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and beat well until blended and smooth.  Spoon into the tin and smooth the top.  Bake for 25-30 minutes if using two tins and 35-40 minutes for the deeper tin, test with a skewer which should come out clean when the cake is baked.

Turn the cake onto a cooling tray and leave to cool

For the topping:
1 punnet of strawberries
1 punnet of blueberries
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 tablespoons of water

Hull the strawberries, slice up 6-8 strawberries (depending on size) and heat gently in a pan with a tablespoon of sugar and 2 tablespoons of water.  Simmer gently until the sugar has dissolved and the berries start to soften, crush the berries and cook for a further 2 minutes until jammy.  You should still have some juice left, leave to cool.

Cover the top of the cake with the 'jam', reserving a couple of teaspoons of the juice.  Arrange halved strawberries around the edge of the cake and fill the middle with blueberries, brush the berries with the reserved juice to add shine.  Serve with cream, ice cream or yogurt.

If you would like to win  these tools and a year’s supply of strawberries leave a comment on this post telling me "What is your favourite berry recipe"  The winner's name will be chosen by Random Number Generator on 15th July and then passed on to OXO Good Grips to be entered in a further draw (22nd July) with some other lucky entries, one winner will receive the berrytastic goodies. UK entries only please. 


I'm entering the Berrytastic Strawberry and Blueberry Cake in Let's Cook with Strawberries the blog event hosted by Simply Sensational Food.

I was provided with the Berry Bowl, Strawberry Huller and Strawberries to review, I was not paid and all opinions are my own. 

Labels: Berry World, blueberry, cake, jam, OXO Good Grips, strawberry, Sweet Eve, Victoria Sponge

posted by Janice @ 06:00 16 Comments

Blackcurrant Jam Swirl Muffins

Sometimes only a sweet treat will do and if I don't have any goodies in the house, I often make muffins using a simple recipe and varying the flavourings depending on my mood or, more likely, what I have to hand.
I had some visitors coming so mixed up this batch of muffins using Duerr's Blackcurrant Jam.  Dueerr's jam isn't just for spreading on your bread, it's great for baking too.  Check out the recipes on the Duerr's website to see lots of other treats you can make.

Blackcurrant Jam Swirl Muffins (makes 10-12)
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Duerr's Blackcurrant Jam

1. Heat the oven to 200C.  Line your muffin tin with paper cases.
2. In a large bowl, beat milk, oil and egg with a whisk until well mixed.  Stir in flour, sugar baking powder and salt all at once just until the flour is moistened, the batter will be lumpy.  Fold in the blackcurrant jam. Divide evenly between the paper cases.
3. Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. 

The muffins were delicious with ripples of jam running through the muffins and even better...there is only one bowl to wash up!
 
Thanks to Erin for providing me with some Duerr's jam to bake with, I was not paid for this post and all opinions are my own.

Labels: baking, blackcurrant muffins, Duerr's Jam, jam, Muffins

posted by Janice @ 19:00 4 Comments

The Cheltenham Five: Part 1 where we eat CAKE!

The best cake plate is an empty one!

The internet is a wonderful place to meet like-minded people and even within the food blogging community you find yourself drawn towards certain people's blogs and certain conversations on Twitter. Some of those conversations were verging on the smutty and so our hashtag #smuts was born.

There are eight of food bloggers who make up the #smuts, Karen of Lavender and Lovage, Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes, Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog, Fiona from London Unattached, Ros of The more than occasional baker, Sue from Heaven on a Plate, Dom from Belleau Kitchen and me!  After many false start discussions and meetings of two or three at various events, we felt it was time we all met together.  As we are flung to the far corners of the UK and France,  we settled on Cheltenham as a reasonable place that was easily accessible by rail.

Early on in our planning we lost one #smut,  as Jac was off to the sun for a well earned holiday.  Then more unavoidable events meant that Dom and Sue both had to call off almost at the last minute. And then there were five...not of all of those present will be featured in this post, Karen and I don't give a damn so you will see a lot of the two of us!  Fiona also features as long as her hair is okay ;-)

Fiona and Karen came up from London on the train together and I met them at Cheltenham Spa station.    After checking into our hotel, we had a bit of a scout around the sales in Cheltenham including Cath Kidston, Radley and Toast. 

We then headed for our rendez-vous with Choclette and Ros at the Well Walk Tea Room,
It's located in  one of Cheltenham's oldest shops and is a real delight, in terms of decor, customer service and the tea itself.



We couldn't resist some scones with jam and cream as they were straight out of the oven!

Bloggers do it with pictures!

Labels: afternoon tea, cake, Cheltenham, cream, jam, Scones, tea, vintage china, Well Walk Tea Room

posted by Janice @ 20:11 9 Comments

The Royal Highland Show - Farming and Food

You may remember that I posted about the Royal Highland Show a few weeks ago?  Well, the time has come for the 2013 show.  It's on from Thursday 20th June to Sunday 22nd June.  I took a day off work to visit the show with particular emphasis on the Food Hall!

Food Hall

I caught up with the lovely Claire, from Mackay's Jams who I met at the Marmalade Awards last year, I'll be posting some recipes using Mackay's Jams in the very near future.  If you are going along be sure to say hello to Claire.

Fab Team at MacSween Haggis

 And this is the 'Blaggis' Roll (haggis and black pudding) I bought from MacSween for my brunch, kept me going all day. After a scout around the Food Hall, I decided to head out to see some of the livestock before coming back for the Cookery Theatre.


These beautiful white Charolais Bulls were waiting to be judged, they have been brushed and talcumned within an inch of their lives to make them look their best.



I wasn't quite sure what they were doing here, they seemed to be getting this poor sheep to keep turning round so they could look at both sides, it seemed bemused rather than distressed by it though.


Wendy made some delicious trout skewers, the trout was marinated in lemon juice, honey mustard and honey.  They cooked in the oven in no time and were accompanied by a salad.  Wendy had some help to make the salad dressing from Michael Moore MP the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Michael Moore MP making salad dressing

Wendy also made a Chocolate Roulade and a Tea Loaf which was cooked flat as a traybake type thing, which was served with ice cream. Best Tip: Add some cocoa powder to your melted chocolate to intensify the flavour.

The main event, for me, was Craig Wilson, The Kilted Chef who is Chef Proprietor at Eat on the Green, Udny Green.  The theme of the demonstration was 'Science on a Plate' as Craig was accompanied by Nutritionist Alex Johnstone of the Rowett Institute of Nutrtition and Health at Aberdeen University and David Thomson, Head of Food and Drink for the Scottish Government.


Craig cooked three dishes a Cullen Skink Risotto using finely diced potato rather than rice.  Aberdeen Angus Beef with Vegetable and Chick Pea Bhuna and a Raspberry, Oat, Ginger and Chocolate Dessert.  While he was cooking Alex told us about the nutritional benefits of cooking our own fresh ingredients.  David was able to provide information about the Food Industry in Scotland, I learned that the Scottish Food Industry is worth £12.4 billion per year. 

Aberdeen Angus Beef with Vegetable and Chick Pea Bhuna

While making the dessert, Craig came down into the audience to let us smell the raspberries he had lightly sauted with some whisky, the aroma was incredible!  And you get to see that he really is a 'kilted' Chef.  Best Tip:  If your onions are cooking too quickly and starting to burn, add a little water to the pan to slow down the cooking

Raspberry, Oat, Ginger and Chocolate Dessert

I had a great time at the Royal Highland Show, there are still three days to go, so if you are able to get to Edinburgh, then I can thoroughly recommend it.  If not, then start planning for 2014!  I'll leave you with some more livestock, without them there wouldn't be a show.


Many thanks to Chris for inviting me to visit the Show.  I received a complimentary ticket and parking pass for one day of the Royal Highland Show, I was not paid for this post and all views are my own.

Labels: Charolais, Craig Wilson, Eat on the Green, jam, Kilted Chef, Mackays, Macsween Haggis, Rowett Institute, Royal Highland Show, Wendy Barrie

posted by Janice @ 21:15 4 Comments