Along with a number of giant
marrows, there was also a glut of blackberries at the weekend. I love the shiny, black jewels ready to stain
your fingers purple, ranging from super sweet to mouth-puckering tartness.
I used the handfuls of fruit for
a blackberry mojito before dinner on Sunday, and a blackberry, apple and
cinnamon cobbler after. The cobbler
topping is a bit like a scone mixture – a nice change from crumble or sponge
for that stodgy Sunday evening pudding (well, it is nearly September).
Blackberry Mojito (1 drink)
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 tsp brown/Demerara sugar
30ml dark rum
Sprig of mint, with leaves picked off
5 or so blackberries
50ml apple juice
Lots of crushed ice
Muddle the lime, sugar and
blackberries together in a glass (if you don’t have a muddler, the end of a
rolling pin will do), before adding the rum.
Squash the mint leaves in your hands before adding, then top up the
glass with lots of crushed ice. Pour in
the apple juice, give it a good mix with a spoon, before topping with a little
more crushed ice.
Blackberry, apple & cinnamon cobbler (serves 6ish)
Cobbler topping
75g self-raising flour
75 spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
70g butter, diced
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
125ml buttermilk, or milk with a squeeze of lemon juice
Sprinkle demerara sugar
Fruit below
3 eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
250g blackberries
1 tbsp caster sugar
- Pre-heat the oven to 200c.
- Mix the flours, baking powder and salt in a bowl, then rub in the butter with fingertips until the mixture is like rough breadcrumbs. Stir in the caster sugar and cinnamon, before pouring in the buttermilk/soured milk, and then mixing to a soft dough with a knife.
- Put the prepared apples and blackberries in an ovenproof dish (I used an oval one approx. 25cm long), and mix with the caster sugar
- Blob on dollops of the cobbler mixture, leaving gaps between, then sprinkle with a little demerara sugar for crunch.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes, before turning down to 170c and cooking for a further 20 minutes until golden brown. Perfect with custard (even the good old Bird's powder kind).