Picking blackberries - jam

The Black Oil

Can't wait to go picking blackberries. Is it too early to go out? I haven't checked if there's anything on the brambles...must take a look. The jam we made last year was very good.

The Hill Billy

I was checking the brambles in my back garden/field (in North County Dublin) at the weekend & it looks like they won't be ready for a couple of weeks yet.

d4v1d

i've been picking loads of them in clogrenane woods near carlow. there are tons of them ripe now. i've started making wine out of them. also thinking of making a blackberry baked cheesecake and blackberry ice-cream.

CJhaughey

I have picked bags of them they are rotting off the vines here in Cork.

Darkginger

They're ready in Mayo, too.

Monkeybonkers

My mother was making jam on Sun with blackberries picked from the field out the back of out house. This is in Donegal so they're ready to go there. Can't wait to taste it. So yummy!

The Black Oil

d4v1d, don't be afraid to share any recipes.

Chicken Run

plentiful in Clare too

Blackberry vodka for Christmas

The Black Oil

We might also be making a kir...not sure on the spelling. I think you get the blackberries, mix it with white wine...possibly sugar, boil off the alcohol, etc. No doubt I'm missing a few steps, but I'll post if we make it.

unkel

Hill Billy wrote: »

I was checking the brambles in my back garden/field (in North County Dublin) at the weekend & it looks like they won't be ready for a couple of weeks yet.

I saw some ripe ones on random bushes, but checked properly in my local park (Lucan) today and like you say - there are some ripe berries but there's no point starting to pick them. I'll try again it a fortnight

d4v1d

The Black Oil wrote: »

d4v1d, don't be afraid to share any recipes.

which one? the wine, the cheescake or the ice-cream?

unkel

All of them, you little teaser

d4v1d

unkel wrote: »

All of them, you little teaser

fair enough. the wine i've already posted here

for the baked cheesecake:
base...
12-14 digestive
60gms butter
2 tblsp golden syrup

filling...
600gm cream cheese (i use the low fat philidelphia)
2 tblsp plain flour
170gm castor sugar
vanilla essence
2 eggs + i yolk
150ml sour cream
500gm fresh blackberries

the base:
1. crush up the digestives
2. melt the butter in a saucepan and mix in the crushed biscuits
3. add the golden syrup and mix in well over a very low heat
4. grease the base of a cake dish and then fill in the base. press it down with your hands to make it nice and firm.
5. stick it in the oven for about 5 minutes at 200C

notes on the base: depending on the size of the tin (i use a 23cm) and how thick you like the base just change the amount of digestives you use. sometimes we put chocolate chips in the base when we make chocolate and baileys flavour

for the filling:
1. beat the cream cheese, flour, eggs, sour cream, sugar, few drops of vanilla essence until the mixture is all light and fluffy.
2. with the blackberries what i did was to use most of them to make a coulis and then added this to the filling.
3. pour/spoon the filling onto the base, throw in a few whole blackberries as well.
4. cook at 180C for about an hour. it should be a really nice golden colour on top and slightly more raised at the edges.
5. set aside for 30 min and then put in the fridge for a few hours to cool it down.

notes on the filling: the filling in step one is really nice even with nothing else added. but to this you can add any flavours, when the raspberries were ripe they went really well with it, as does any chocolate. i tried coffee and caramel too and that was really good but you can fell your heart slowing down as you eat it


as for the ice cream
when we were in dingle we went to murphys ice cream and we ended up buying their book. that has loads of recipes but once you start making them up you will very quickly start to experiment with your own flavours. as the base we use is taken almost directly from their book i don't think it's very fair to put it online. i like what they do and if anyone wants to make really good ice cream i'd just say to buy their book and also support an irish business.