With Blackberries in abundance at the moment, it is all system go to pick them and use them before they disappear for another year.

Personally I don’t think you can beat the flavour of wild Blackberries, cultivated ones, to me, taste a bit too sharp.

I started making Blackberry Syrup a few years ago, I use it as I would any other syrup, in a steam sponge pudding, as a topping for ice cream or yogurt, and in baking in general.

Here is my recipe, it is very similar to jam making, except it isn’t set like jam.

You will need:

The following is just a guidance and you can make more or less, you just need to stick to the ratio.

• 1kilo of fresh Blackberries
• ½ pint or 300ml of Water
• Granulated Sugar

Method:

• Wash and pick over the berries, checking for rotten berries, stalks and insects.
• Put them into a heavy based pan along with the water and bring to the boil.
• Simmer gently for 20mins and mash the fruit with a potato masher to release the juice from the fruit.
• As soon as the fruit is really pulpy, juicy and mashed pour though a jelly bag and allow to strain over night, reserving the juice in a bowl or jug.

Tip: if you do not have a jelly bag, pour though a colander over a bowl to remove the big bits, then pour though a sieve over a bowl and allow this to drip over night.

Tip: While the fruit is dripping do stir it and squeeze the fruit from time to time to encourage all the juice out.

• Measure the juice.
• The quantity of sugar needed depends on the amount of juice collected.

1 pint of juice : 1lb Granulated Sugar

or

500ml Juice : 450g Granulated Sugar

• Add the sugar to the juice and heat gently to dissolve the sugar, then bring to the boil and simmer for 20mins.
• Pour into sterilized jars, put lids on and label with the ‘Blackberry Syrup’ and the date you made it.

Tip: Sterilizing the jars is easy, I wash them up, dry them then bake in an oven at 100degrees for 15-20mins. Pour the hot syrup into the jars while the jars are hot and fresh out the oven.

Tip: Sterilizing lids is super easy too, after washing up (and a couple of minutes before you require them), I pour freshly boiled water into the lids. Empty the boiled water as you place them on the filled jars.

Serving suggestions:

• Ice cream topping
• Streamed sponge pudding
• Great with yogurt