Darina Allen: Four easy recipes that make the most of blackberry season

My foolproof lemon curd recipe and you have to try this blackberry pavlova

Celebrate your blackberry bounty with a gorgeous pavlova. 

For foraging nerds like me, there are treasures to be found year-round. We found a few wild mushrooms in the fields — our buckthorn berries are ripening and I’ve picked lots of rowan berries to make jelly to serve with pork, lamb or game when it comes into season.

There are oodles of wild blackberries this year so you can satisfy your inner ‘hunter gatherer’ or just have a trip down memory lane.

We have tons of blackberries on the briars in the hedgerows around the school, an extra bonus from rewilding areas on the farm to provide extra habitats for birds, wild animals, bees and other pollinating insects. This year they are really fat and juicy, with a more intense tart flavour than the cultivated blackberries, and, of course, they are free. Organise a bramble picking expedition with your children and grandchildren. You will need to show them how to pick the best ones and how to judge if they are infested with tiny maggots – rather than a pale, creamy green centre, the core will be stained with blackberry juice.

We buy kilos of blackberries for jam from local children who love to earn some pocket money and continue the tradition that has endured in many families for generations.

Blackberries freeze brilliantly — they also dry well. If you have a dehydrator, it’s really worth experimenting with blackberries: add them to scones, muffins, muesli. Try folding some into Champ or Colcannon to serve with roast duck.

They are at their best at present but will gradually deteriorate depending on the weather. Older people used to tell us children not to pick blackberries after Halloween, some say Michaelmas (September 29) ‘cos the ‘púca’ will have spit on them’. This was a brilliant deterrent to stop hungry kids from eating over-ripe blackberries years ago.

Have fun with blackberries: they are deliciously versatile — think of adding them to both sweet and savoury dishes as well as scattering over breakfast granola, muesli, yoghurt…Pop one into an ice cube with a mint leaf to add to cordials and aperitifs.

They are packed with Vitamin C and are supposed to improve both motor and cognitive functions and couldn’t we all do with that. They also make delicious wine if you are into home brewing but crème de mûre is even easier — try this recipe which I originally came across in one of my favourite cookbooks of all time, Jane Grigson’s Good Things. It’s a brilliant base for a cordial or a blackberry Kir.

All of the hedgerows around us here are still full of fluffy meadowsweet so hope you've been picking some and experimenting with the fragrant blossoms — see my article of August 7, 2021.

Blackberry, blueberry, raspberry and mint pavlova

recipe by:Darina Allen

Pavlova, the dessert named after prima ballerina Anna Pavlova has to be in here — a base for so many delicious ripe berries and fruit

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 55 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 5 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites

• 225g caster sugar

• 1 tsp cornflour

• 1 tsp white wine vinegar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract or the zest of 1 lemon

• For the filling:

• 300ml  cream

• 400 – 450g  mixture of whole and sliced blackberries, raspberries, blueberries mixed with fresh mint

• To garnish:

• Fresh mint leaves

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

2. Check that your bowl and whisk are dry and free of grease or any residue of detergent. Using a food-processor, whisk the egg whites until stiff, then add in half the caster sugar, continue to whisk until the mixture is stiff and shiny. Fold in the rest of the caster sugar with the cornflour, vinegar, vanilla extract or lemon zest.

3. Spread the meringue mixture onto a 23cm (9 inch) round or oval on the silicone paper. Make a well in the centre and push the mixture to the side to form ‘walls’. Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 1- 1 ¼ hours or until very pale brown, crisp on the outside and dry underneath but soft and marshmallow in the centre.

4. Remove from the oven, turn the pavlova upside down on a wire rack and peel off the paper. If it’s still a little sticky in the centre, replace in the oven for 5-10 minutes longer. Allow to get quite cold.

5. To serve, transfer the pavlova carefully onto a serving plate. Whip the cream softly, fill the centre of the pavlova with cream and berries. Garnish with fresh mint.
   
   Note: This quantity makes 6 individual 10cm (4 inch) pavlovas which take 20 minutes to cook.

Blackberry, apple and geranium jam

recipe by:Darina Allen

Blackberries are a bit low in pectin, so the tart Bramley apples help the jam to set as well as adding extra flavour. This makes 9-10 450g jars

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 6 mins

Total Time

 26 mins

Course

 Dessert

Cuisine

 Traditional

Ingredients

• 2.3kg (5lbs) blackberries (wild or cultivated)

• 900g (2lbs) cooking apples (Bramley Seedling in season)

• 1kg – scant 1.1kg (2lbs 4oz – 2lbs 6oz) granulated sugar

• 8-10 sweet geranium leaves (optional), alternatively use the finely-grated zest and juice of an organic lemon

•  

Method

1. Wash, peel, core and slice the apples. Stew them until soft with 300ml (10fl oz) of water in a stainless steel saucepan; beat to a pulp.

2. Pick over the blackberries, cook until soft, adding about 150ml (5fl oz) of water (or water and lemon juice) if the berries are dry. If the blackberries are frozen, omit the water.

3. Put the blackberries into a wide stainless steel saucepan or preserving pan with the apple pulp and heated sugar. Destalk and chop the sweet geranium leaves (or zest of the lemon if using) and add to the fruit. Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved.

4. Boil steadily for about 15 minutes approximately. Skim the jam, test for a set and pot into warm spotlessly clean jars. Seal, store in a dark place or share with friends.

Lemon curd

recipe by:Darina Allen

Easy peasy, this recipe makes two 200ml jars of lemon curd

Servings

8

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 10 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 50g butter

• 100g caster sugar

• grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

• 2 organic eggs and 1 organic egg yolk whisked (keep white aside for meringue

Method

1. Melt the butter on a very low heat. Add the caster sugar, lemon zest and juice and then add the whisked eggs.

2. Stir carefully over a gentle heat with a straight ended wooden spatula until the mixture coats the back of it. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl or sterilized jar (it will thicken further as it cools.)

3. Cover when cold and refrigerate.

Lemon curd cream with blackberries and toasted almonds

recipe by:Darina Allen

Tangy, sweet and moreish, the almonds in this recipe add a perfect crunch

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 10 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp lemon curd

• 3-4 tablespoons softly whipped cream

• 175g (6oz) wild blackberries

• a squeeze of freshly squeezed lemon juice

• a sprinkling of sugar or a drizzle of honey (optional)

• 2 tablespoons toasted flaked almonds

• shredded mint leaves plus a couple of whole mint leaves for garnishing

Method

1. Taste the blackberries, if they are very tart, add a squeeze of lemon juice and a generous sprinkling of sugar or honey. Allow to macerate for 4-5 minutes.

2. Fold the whipped cream into the lemon curd. Taste and add a more of either depending on the intensity of the lemon curd.

3. Toast the flaked almonds in a dry pan to a rich golden colour (watch them as they burn really easily) and cool.

4. To serve, put two generous tablespoons of lemon curd cream into each shallow bowl. Spoon some of the macerated blackberries over the cream. Scatter with flaked almonds and sprinkle on some shredded mint plus a few fresh mint leaves for garnish.

HOT TIPS

Artisan Bakeries

Artisan bakeries are popping up all over the country. The worse the commercial bread becomes (and much of it is truly shocking now), the greater the opportunity. I reckon that before too long, most small towns and villages will be able to support a bakery that sells natural sourdough and slowly proved yeast and rye breads. During a recent visit to the brilliant Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas, I discovered The Fermentary, opposite the playground on the main street. Local people were queuing patiently for 48-hour natural sourdough and rye loaves, gorgeous almond or coconut and raspberry croissants, morning buns, pain au chocolat — and really good coffee too from La Cabra coffee roasters in Copenhagen or Calendar in Galway, Kombucha on tap from a stylish copper dispenser. Another place that’s worth a detour. thefermentary.ie

Eight Degrees Brewery – Best in Ireland World Beer Awards

Congratulations to Eight Degrees Brewing's Seisiún IPA and Sunburnt Irish Red Ale which have been named ‘Best in Ireland’ at this year’s World Beer Awards. Seisiún IPA took the win in the session category while Sunburnt Irish Red Ale was the winner in the amber category.

Clean Coasts Ballynamona

Bravo Clean Coasts Ballynamona who have just launched a 2022 calendar with stunning imagery of the East Cork Coastline. 100% of the profits from the sale of the calendar go back into protecting our coast and managing meadows for pollinators under their care.

The calendars can be purchased online at SeaAndLandTrust.org for €13.75 which includes postage anywhere within Ireland. They are also available for purchase via the Farm Shop at the Ballymaloe Cookery School and other local shops/outlets in East Cork.