Where I walk my dog the bushes are dripping with fat, juicy blackberries at the moment - whenever I go out I have a handful to eat as I go along - and the dog is partial to the odd one too.
I have also been picking bagsful at the weekends. I freeze a lot as they are, in the bags, ready for blackberry and apple crumble. I also like to make hot blackberry sauce for pouring over ice cream - it goes particularly well with a good quality coffee ice cream.
Version 1 Blackberry Sauce Recipe (with whole berries in the sauce)
take a handful of blackberries and put them in a small pan, just cover with water, add a teaspoon of cornflour and another of sugar then heat to a bubble and stir occasionally until it thickens - pour over ice cream (yum)
Version 2 Blackberry Sauce Recipe (smooth sauce)
Put your blackberries into the saucepan with water to almost cover and bubble until the blackberries are soft and beginning to fall apart.
Push through a sieve, then put liquid back in the pan, add sugar and cornflour (and more water if required) then allow to bubble, stirring until the sauce thickens - this is also lovely over ice cream, but can double up as a blackberry coulis to decorate a posh pud. I also love it mixed with the boiling water saved from cooking off the apples for crumble - a great throat soothing winter drink full of goodness.
Both versions can be made up and then frozen for later use - another way of dealing with the blackberry glut of autumn.
