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Not seasonal - but pickled blackberries! Amazingly good!


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Well perhaps they're seasonal somewhere in the world? I had to share this now because I've been indulging in blackberries I pickled back in September, having harvested so many in my local area at the time. They're great with cheese or meat, like any pickles, but also I enjoy them mixed into natural yogurt. My pickled blackberries are bringing me a taste of Autumn preserved in a jar, as I sit here in Springtime.

 

Makes 1.8 kg (4 lb)

 

450g (1lb) preserving sugar

300 ml (half a pint) white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon allspice berries

1 teaspoon cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

900g (2 lb) blackberries

 

Put the sugar in a pan with the vinegar and dissolve slowly over a low heat.

 

Tie the spices in a muslin bag and place in the simmering mixture for 5 minutes.

 

Add the blackberries and simmer gently for a further 10-15 minutes. Then remove the spices, and strain the blackberries through a sieve, reserving the liquid. 

 

Pack the blackberries into warm jars to about two-thirds full.

 

Return the liquid to the pan, and boil hard until it reduces to a thick syrup. Then pour the syrup over the blackberries to fill the jars, and seal. 

 

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I can honestly say they are absolutely delicious - you have the true blackberry flavour but with an extra kick. I think the blackberries really like being pickled!

 

While I'm on  it, my book gives a little legend - 

The legend goes that after 12th October, picked blackberries will taste sour. This is because this was the day of the Fall, and that Satan fell into a blackberry bush and cursed it in his anger.

Enjoy!

Edited by Mistflower
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By the way, if you pickle them when you pick them in Autumn, they will be easily ready by December. I just left mine way longer!

 

I was reading about blackberries on the darker uses of plants thread. Perhaps that thread may inspire you to use the pickled blackberries in certain ways. The pickling process really suits the blackberries well, I think, and of course vinegar is useful in many ways. I've only used them for my own delectation, so far anyway. 

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