Making Blackberry Jam to celebrate Autumn

So, after a long (and not particularly hot) summer, today is the first official day of autumn.

Early autumn is one of my favorite times of year - the colours, the conkers, the mist.. beautiful.

Autumn demands a new approach to cooking that takes full advantage of the abundant fruits, vegetables and meats that come into season. Right now the hedgerows are heavy with blackberries - delicious fruits and totally free. 

I first went blackberry picking when I was five with my mum and for many years after that. As soon as little bro and sis were old enough they came too and then it became a competition - a mad rush of scratched hands to bring home the biggest, best and most juicy berries. 

Blackberries are totally delicious and can be used to create so many tasty delights. 


Plus, if you don't know what you want to make with them yet, just pick them while they're here and freeze them until you do know!


Just one word of advice - I've seen so many people picking them on busy roadsides but fumes from the traffic can ruin the fruit and may mean that you're consuming all sorts of nasties.






Today, I wanted to make blackberry jam.
I am no expert at jam making and have chosen not to use pectin (often used for thickening jam) but kept my recipe as simple as possible.

Carefully wash 1kg of blackberries well under cold running water.

Add 1kg of caster sugar.

Add the juice of half a lemon and a pinch of salt.

Stir and heat to a rolling boil.

Cook for aprox. 20 mins stirring regularly.

Allow to cool slightly and then transfer to sterile jars. Leave a 1cm gap at the top.

Seal and store in the fridge once completely cool.

Enjoy on hot buttered toast - heaven.

P.S. The Daily Mail tells me that blackberry picking is in decline even though "the current economic climate makes it the perfect time to plunder nature's bountiful store cupboard". This seems such a shame. Blackberry picking is as quintessentially British at this time of year as tea and cricket. 
I would urge everyone to head out and pick as many as you can - they are free people, FREE! 

Fastest cake in the West? ...Scone!

(Apologies first of all for the title. I have a fiancé fond of 'jokes'!) x

Home for the summer at my parent's house in a quiet sleepy village in Yorkshire, there has been very little call for cooking as the restaurant of Mum/Dad is always in operation. :-)
Yet I could not let the summer pass me by without eating at least one really good scone.

That is not to say that other people do not make a decent scone! Far from it. But honestly, the way to get a good scone is to simply bake them yourself. Scones can be very dry and very boring but they will never be either if eaten soon after they come out of the oven!


My Grandmother does the ultimate summer tea with sandwiches, boiled eggs, salad and cakes. This yumminess is never complete without heaps of golden scones. Or is it scOnes?

"I asked the maid in dulcet tone

To order me a buttered scone

The silly girl has been and gone

And ordered me a buttered scone."

This recipe comes from a VERY old and frankly now disgusting cookbook that belongs to my mum. But the disgustingness of the book merely shows how well used it is - do not judge this book by its greasy and stained cover! Everything I ever made as a child came from that book. It's full of classics.

The recipe goes:

Mix a pinch of salt, 300g flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 75g cooking marg.
If using a machine, mix slowly until you get a breadcrumb consistency, or rub in the marg by hand.

Stir in 50g sugar.

Put 1 egg into a measuring jug and then add milk up to 125ml. Add this mixture but leave a tiny bit of it to one side.

Work the mixture into a soft dough.

Roll out to just over a centimetre thick (the recipe says 12mm but I say the fatter the better!)

Use a 5cm cutter

 Cut out the scones and place them on a lightly floured baking tray.

Brush the top of each with the remaining milk/egg. This will give the characteristic golden sheen. Cook in the oven @ 240°C for around 10 minutes but keep an eye on them as they sometimes take a little less time. Once they are risen and golden, you'll know that they're done.

Allow to cool, for as long as you can stand, and eat within 1/2 days.

 Serve with butter, jam and clotted cream for a real treat!

We tried ours with a rather fancy gooseberry and elderflower jam - delish.

Pinkies out - it's tea time!