28th August, 2014
We love a bit of foraging here at The Carter Company, and nothing quite beats blackberry season, which is fast approaching! We tend to think the first week of September is the best time for harvesting, when the hedgerows in the countryside are simply brimming with shiny, deep purple, sumptuous berries ripe for picking. However, if you live near a city, the blackberries might come into season a little earlier - the best thing is simply to take lots of walks around this time of year, keep your eyes peeled and always take a basket or small container with you so you can pick some if they're ready.
What do you use your blackberries for? Well, there's a multitude of options... you can of course eat them fresh, with a drop of cream and a dusting of brown sugar, or you can make a pie and crumble (see below!), or even turn them into jam or chutney.
We're big fans of the mighty crumble (surely there are few things better in life than a good ol' crumble topped with thick, vanilla custard?!), so we're sharing our own recipe below. This is a real family favourite, so we hope you enjoy it too.
- First, heat the oven to 180 degrees
- Next, mix 500g of blackberries with a couple of tablespoons of demerara sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
- To make the crumble, sieve 200g of flour into 175g of caster sugar. Add 100g of rolled oats, and then 100g of unsalted butter. Mix together with your fingers
- Put the blackberries into the bottom of an ovenproof dish, and spoon the crumble mixture on top
- Bake for around 30-40 minutes until it's golden brown
- Serve with freshly made custard or cream (we vote custard!)
If you fancy feasting off the natural fruits of the land, you need to get yourself out into the Great British countryside and spend some time in amongst the hedgerows. We recommend a bicycle trip around The Chilterns or a walking holiday down the Thames for some prime blackberry picking. Let us know how you get on!
Posted by: Iona Carter