Blackberry and Sloe berry Codial

Hello dear friends!

Blackberries and sloe berries go so well together! that sweet and wild mix will make a delicious drink, or why not even use it in a cake? Sloe berries are well known for their dry, bitterness so you can surprise yourself and others with delicious sweet sloe berry cakes!

The recipe:

1 kg of mixed Sloe Berries and Blackberries
1 liter Water
600 grams Sugar

How to do it:

Bring to boil the berries and water. Then simmer for 10 minutes. The sloe berries will pop and the skin will split, the blackberries will become very soft and turn red. Mash them up with a potato masher whilst still on the heat. Then boil again.

Sieve the mixture into a big bowl, use a fork to help squish as much as possible through the sieve. There should be a lot of liquid but it's nice to get some pulp too, it makes it more "home-made".

Then pour the liquid back into the pot and add the sugar. Heat up gently whilst stirring until all the sugar has dissolved. Then bring to a boil again.

Cool down and funnel into a couple glass bottles.

Keep refrigerated and drink/cook/eat/use within 10 days.

Photos to help (remember the steam gets on the lense but I'm sure you can see well enough):

Sloe Berry Cordial

Hey there friends!

I picked some beautiful sloe berries from my garden and made some delicious cordial out of it. It's sweet and refreshing, so fruity and satisfying. I drink it with water but it would be great added to cocktails or juices or even just lemonade and ice! Or if you're feeling cosy then why not try it with ot water or added to hot wine for a wintery treat! Delish!!!

The recipe:

1 kg of Sloe Berries
1 liter Water
500 grams Sugar
1 lemon (juice)

How to do it:

Bring to boil the berries, water and lemon. Then simmer for 10 minutes. The berries will pop and the skin will split, mash them up with a potato masher whilst still on the heat. Then boil again.

Sieve the mixture into a big bowl, use a fork to help squish as much as possible through the sieve. There should be a lot of liquid but it's nice to get some pulp too, it makes it more "home-made".

Then pour the liquid back into the pot and add the sugar. Heat up gently whilst stirring until all the sugar has dissolved. Then bring to a boil again.

Cool down and funnel into a couple glass bottles.

Keep refrigerated and drink/cook/eat/use within 10 days.

Photos to help (remember the steam gets on the lense but I'm sure you can see well enough):

Sloe berries

After boiling in water and lemon, the skins have split

Mashing the sloe berries

The mixture s fully mashed and ready to sieve

Now pour the liquid back into the pot and add the sugar

once cooled a bit, pour into a clean, sterilized bottle and store in the fridge.

I had a bit left so I made iced cubes with them to add to cocktails

Jam into chutney

Hi there!

Last week I picked loads of plums from the garden and made a LOT of jam! I decided to take some and make it into chutney...

It was so simple and took less than 20 minutes in total.

All I did, was cut up some onions and ginger, fried them in olive oil, added some spices and when the time came, I simply poured the jar of jam into the mixture and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, then poured all the mixture back into the jam jar. There was more now because of the added ingredients so what didn't fit in the jar, I put in a glass to eat up today. I didn't sterilise the jar because I know I'll be using this up pretty fast, but you should if you're doing more than one jar and if you'll be storing it. Here are some pictures (the steam makes the pictures look a bit misty but you can see enough, I'm sure):

Add caption

cut the onion and ginger

I chose to add cumin, coriander and paprika to the mix too

start by frying the onions in oil

after a few minutes, add the spices

once the onions have softened and taken on a beautiful brownish colour, add the ginger

fry for another few minutes, then add the jar of jam to the mixture

funnel back into the jar, i used a chopstick to push the more lumpy onion and ginger bits through

there was a bit left over due to the added ingredients so I put it into a glass

I'll be using this today and tomorrow before using what's in the jar. 

Enjoy!

Loads of love,

Joanna xx