It's late summer and there are blackberries everywhere free for the picking.  What better way to live more with less than to harvest from the hedgerows.  Below are some recipes for your pickings!

Bramley Apple and Blackberry Cake 

This recipe could be made less expensive by replacing the bramley apple with windfall apples you may find along the roadside.  It would be better if the apples were on the tart side since Bramleys are a cooking apple.

Ingredients

• 175g butter , plus extra for greasing
• 300g plain flour , plus extra for dusting
• 4 Bramley apples , (approx 800g/1lb 12oz)
• squeeze lemon juice
• 284ml carton whipping cream
• 225g golden caster sugar , plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling
• 3 eggs
• 300g blackberries 

1. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Grease a roasting tin (30x20cm) with butter, dust with a little flour, then set aside. Peel, core and slice the apples into rings, then toss in a little lemon juice to stop them going brown.
2. Tip the cream and butter into a saucepan, bring up to the boil, then set aside. Whisk the sugar with the eggs until they thicken and turn pale, about 3 mins. Whisk the buttery cream into the eggs, then fold in the flour until completely smooth.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and arrange the apple slices over the top. Scatter over the blackberries, then sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake for 50 mins-1 hr until golden and beginning to pull away from the sides of the tin. Leave to cool in the tin and serve cut into squares.

Blackberry Chutney

• 500g blackberries
• 140g caster sugar
• 140g red onions , sliced
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh root ginger
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 150ml white wine vinegar 

1. Combine all the ingredients, except the vinegar, in a large saucepan. Stir mixture over medium heat until the blackberries burst. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the vinegar and allow the mixture to simmer uncovered for 10 mins. Cool, transfer to a sterilised jar and seal immediately. 

Blackberry and Apple Bakewell Pudding

• 6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar
• 400g blackberries
• 150g butter , softened
• 150g golden caster sugar
• 3 whole eggs plus 1 yolk, beaten
• 150g ground almonds
• 1½ tsp almond extract
• 100g self-raising flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• a handful flaked almonds
• icing sugar , for decoration 

1. Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put the apples and demerara sugar in a pan. Heat gently, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the apples have softened. Stir in the blackberries. Tip into an ovenproof dish, approximately 20cm x 30cm and cool.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together then gradually beat in the eggs. Mix in the ground almonds and almond extract. Sift the self-raising flour and baking powder and fold in.
3. Spoon the almond mix over the cooked fruit then level out. Sprinkle over the almonds. Bake for 40-45 minutes until risen, golden and cooked through. Dust with icing sugar to finish. 

Blackberry and Apple Yorkshire Puddings

• 25g butter
• 140g golden caster sugar
• 4 apples (Cox's are good), peeled, cored and cut into bite-size chunks
• 1 egg white
• 2 eggs
• 140g plain flour
• 200ml full-fat milk
• 150g punnet blackberries
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil 

1. Heat oven to 240C/fan 220C/gas 9. Heat the butter and 100g of the sugar in a frying pan, throw in the apples and cook over a high heat for 3-4 mins until slightly caramelised and just starting to soften. Set aside.
2. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy, then whisk in the rest of the sugar, the whole eggs, the flour and the milk. Stir the apples and the blackberries into the batter. Place a 6-hole non-stick Yorkshire pudding tin over a high heat and add a splash of oil to each hole. Spoon a large ladleful of batter into each hole, making sure all the fruit is used. Put the tin in the oven and leave for 15 mins, without opening the door, until puffed up and golden. Remove from the oven and carefully place each pudding onto a plate. Serve immediately with custard or vanilla ice cream.

Apple and Blackberry Loaf
 

• 250g self-raising flour
• 175g butter
• 175g light muscovado sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 rounded tbsp demerara sugar
• 1 small eating apple , such as Cox's, quartered (not cored or peeled)
• 2 large eggs , beaten
• 1 orange , finely grated zest
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 225g blackberries 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4/fan 160C. Butter and line the bottom of a 1.7 litre loaf tin (see tip below). In a large bowl, rub the flour, butter and muscovado sugar together with your fingers to make fine crumbs. Measure out 5 level tbsp of this mixture into a small bowl for the topping, and mix in to it the cinnamon and demerara sugar. Set aside.
2. Coarsely grate the apple down to the core and mix in with the eggs and the zest. Stir the baking powder into the rubbed-in mixture in the large bowl, then quickly and lightly stir in the egg mixture until it drops lightly from the spoon. Don't overmix.
3. Gently fold in three quarters of the berries with a metal spoon, trying not to break them up. Spoon into the tin and level. Scatter the rest of the berries on top. Sprinkle over the topping and bake for 1¼ -1 hour 20 minutes. Check after 50 minutes and cover loosely with foil if it is browning too much. When done the cake will feel firm, but test with a skewer.
4. Leave in the tin for 30 minutes before turning out, then cool on a wire rack. Peel off the paper before cutting. Will keep wrapped in foil or in a tin for up to 2 days. 

 Apple and Blackberry Crumble

FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING

• 120g plain flour
• 60g caster sugar
• 60g unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into pieces

FOR THE FRUIT COMPOTE

• 300g Braeburn apples
• 30g unsalted butter
• 30g demerara sugar
• 115g blackberries
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• vanilla ice cream, to serve 

1. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Tip the flour and sugar into a large bowl. Add the butter, then rub into the flour using your fingertips to make a light breadcrumb texture. Do not overwork it or the crumble will become heavy. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over a baking sheet and bake for 15 mins or until lightly coloured.
2. Meanwhile, for the compote, peel, core and cut the apples into 2cm dice. Put the butter and sugar in a medium saucepan and melt together over a medium heat. Cook for 3 mins until the mixture turns to a light caramel. Stir in the apples and cook for 3 mins. Add the blackberries and cinnamon, and cook for 3 mins more. Cover, remove from the heat, then leave for 2-3 mins to continue cooking in the warmth of the pan.
3. To serve, spoon the warm fruit into an ovenproof gratin dish, top with the crumble mix, then reheat in the oven for 5-10 mins. Serve with vanilla ice cream.