Happy afternoons of late summer and early autumn, scrabbling about among the brambles to secure a glossy bounty of blackberries while vicious thorns scratched our purple-stained fingers, are, for many of us, our first experiences of food for free. Somehow, battling the prickles made the fruit all the more precious as we triumphantly brought it home for tea.
And now is just about your final chance to satiate that berry longing. Rural folklore says it's unlucky to pick them after Michaelmas on 29 September, when the devil claims them by stamping, spitting or pissing on them. How childish of him… Batey, batey, wuss, wuss, wooh (as we said at school).
It astonishes me how much a punnet of blackberries costs when they're so easy to find for free, not just in the countryside but on almost any urban scrubland. Look for fat, inky-black, shiny berries that come away easily (though if you're intending to make jelly, toss in a few less ripe, reddish ones, too: the late Jane Grigson wisely noted that they have more pectin, so will help it set). Don't overfill baskets or tubs, because blackberries bruise easily, especially if they're very ripe. Eat them soon after picking to enjoy them at their best and don't wash them unless you really have to – a quick rinse under the cold tap should be enough.
A bowl of freshly-picked, ripe blackberries scattered with a bit of sugar and with some very cold, thick cream trickled on top is one of the finest forager's feasts, but if you have lots, there are many more things you can do with them. Add them to your breakfast – they're very good scattered on porridge or muesli, or made into a compote (see today's recipe) and served with pancakes or swirled into thick yoghurt.
The fact that blackberries ripen at the same time as apples is a kind gift of nature: blackberry and apple pie, crumble or cobbler is the crowning glory of many an autumnal Sunday lunch in our house. Apples are also a great addition to blackberry preserves because, like the underripe berries, they help with the set. (If you see any crab apples while you're blackberrying, grab them, too, and add, chopped, to the pan.) I prefer to make clear, sparkling jellies rather than jams. They're more work, but a pip-less bramble jelly is very special. I try to use two-thirds blackberries to one-third apples, though equal quantities give a good result as well.
And if you've picked more than you can possibly use right now, blackberries freeze brilliantly. Spread them on a baking sheet, freeze, then bag up to enjoy in puds well into the winter. How satisfying: hot-tempered devilish malevolence thwarted by ice-cold kitchen technology.
Pancakes with blackberry compote
This recipe makes thick, American-style breakfast pancakes, substantial enough to soak up the sweet-tart juices from the blackberry compote. Though it may seem a little odd, the combination works very well with a few crisp rashers of bacon on the side. Makes about eight pancakes.
140g plain flour, or half plain and half buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
200ml buttermilk or whole milk mixed with 1 tsp lemon juice
1 large egg, lightly beaten
40g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for frying
For the compote
50g caster sugar, or to taste
Juice of 1 orange
1 clove (or 1 small pinch ground cloves) or 2 sprigs lemon verbena (optional)
About 300g blackberries
To serve
Runny honey (optional)
Bacon (optional)
First make the compote: put the sugar and orange juice in a small saucepan with the cloves or lemon verbena. Warm over a low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then add the blackberries and bring to a simmer. Simmer for two to three minutes, then remove from the heat.
Now for the pancakes. Put the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar in a large bowl, and whisk until well combined and light. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk the buttermilk or milk and lemon juice, egg and cooled, melted butter. Pour this into the flour mixture, whisking gently with a fork as you go, until you have a smooth batter. Leave to rest for a few minutes.
Heat a nonstick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter. Use kitchen paper to wipe out any excess, then ladle in two or three pancakes' worth of batter, depending on the size of your pan (each one should be about three to four tablespoons of the mixture). When the surface of each pancake is covered in bubbles, turn and cook until both sides are golden brown, about two to three minutes a side.
Repeat until all the batter is used up – you may need to grease the pan a bit between batches. Serve the pancakes, buttered if you like, with the compote, a trickle of runny honey over the top and a couple of slices of crisp bacon on the side.
Blackberry upside-down cake
Serve warm with ice-cream as a pudding or cold with lightly whipped cream or crème fraîche at tea time. Makes one 22cm cake.
370g blackberries
220g caster sugar
200g plain flour, plus more to dust
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
120g unsalted butter, softened, plus more to grease
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of a lemon
150ml buttermilk, well-shaken
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp icing sugar
To serve
Icing sugar (optional)
Vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream or crème fraîche
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Butter a 22cm x 5cm loose-bottomed cake tin, line the bottom with baking parchment, then butter the parchment. Dust with flour and shake out any excess. Scatter the blackberries into the tin in an even layer, sprinkle over two tablespoons of sugar and shake to coat evenly.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, beat the butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and adding a bit of flour if it looks like curdling, then beat in the vanilla and lemon zest. Add the flour and buttermilk alternately – flour/buttermilk/flour/buttermilk/flour – folding in until just combined.
Spoon the batter over the berries, smooth with a spatula and bake for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean – cover with foil if it looks as if it's browning too quickly. Meanwhile, put the lemon juice and icing sugar in a small pan and simmer for a couple of minutes. Cool.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin for five minutes, then loosen the sides and invert on to a plate. Peel off the parchment and trickle over the lemon syrup. Dust with icing sugar, if you like, before serving.
Blackberry and crab apple cordial
Based on a recipe by my friend Pam Corbin, I love this for its deliciousness and simplicity. You don't even have to peel or core the apples, you can use Bramleys if you can't get crab apples, or use just blackberries. Makes about 1.5 litres.
1kg blackberries, picked over
1kg crab apples, destalked and roughly chopped
Granulated sugar
Brandy (optional)
Put the blackberries and apples in a large, heavy-based pan. Add 700ml water (200ml if making it with just blackberries) and bring slowly to a boil, crushing the fruit with a wooden spoon or masher. Cook slowly until the fruit is soft and the juices flowing. Remove from the heat, then drip through a scalded jelly bag or double layer of muslin suspended over a large bowl. Leave to drip overnight.
Measure the juice (these quantities should yield about a litre) and pour into a clean pan. For every litre of juice, add 700g sugar (or to taste). Heat gently to dissolve the sugar, then remove from the heat. Pour immediately into warm, sterilised bottles, leaving a 1cm gap at the top. (You could, at this point, add a teaspoon or two of brandy if you like.) Seal with a screw cap or cork. The cordial will keep, sealed, in a cool, dark place for a couple of months.
Read about blackberries and a whole lot more in the latest in the River Cottage handbook series, Edible Hedgerow, by foraging expert John Wright – go to rivercottage.net for the latest news from River Cottage HQ.