BLACKBERRIES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 510, 1 April 1949, Page 22

BLACKBERRIES

pense at all to many people -although they are fairly expensive in city shops. Blackberries can be bottled just like strawberries or raspberries by either the oven method or the waterbath. You can bottle blackberries and apples together in alternate layers, leaving the apples in thick slices and choosing large, juicy blackberries. This pack is all ready for pies and tarts in winter, and looks very attractive, too. If using the oven method, have the heat only 250 deg., or Regulo 1. Do not attempt to hasten matters by raising the heat. This applies to all oven-bottling. The fruit should be under rather than over ripe. Put only a very little water in each jar, cover with a patty-pan or loose lid of any kind, and leave from % hour to an hour, till the fruit shrinks down and seems partly cooked. If it shrinks very much, you can fill up one jar from another, putting them straight back into the oven. When ready, take out one jar at a time and fill up with boiling syrup or water, whichever is convenient. Tie down immediately with porosan-skin, or fit on your inset seals and screw on tightly. If you have neither porosan nor screw-top jars, use the fat-sealing method. Fat-Sealing Method Have ready on stove, hot but not smoking, a small saucepan, or clean fat, mutton and beef in equal parts. Put 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of this on top of each jar of fruit as it is filled. A round piece of white kitchen paper may be first put over the fruit if preferred, but the fat actually does not give any taste to the fruit. As the jars cool, the fat is generally drawn down into a little hol-low-though not deeply like the porosan skin. Therefore, when the fat is cool, put another 2 or 3 tablespoons of fat on top, to fill up the hollow, and to teach thoroughly right over the rim of the jar. Then cover with 2 thicknesses of paper and tie or stick down securely. Grubs in Blackberries There are often tiny maggots or grubs in blackberries or raspberries. The fruit may be put into a weak salt and water solution-about a teaspoon of salt to a pint of water-when the grubs will come out and may be removed with a perforated spoon. Blackberry Pie De Luxe Have a deep dish full of hot blackberries cooked with sugar and a squeeze of lemon-juice.. Make the following -sponge-crust and pour on the boiling hot fruit. Cream together 2ozs. butter and 4% cup sugar. Add 2 eggs and beat well. Then add a large cup of flour ‘sifted with a large teaspoon of baking powder (not phosphate). Lastly add 2 or 3 tablespoons of boiling water, cover the hot fruit with this sponge, and bake at once in'a hot oven approximately 20 minutes, If you have only one egg, use a little milk as well. Blackberry and Plum Jam ae If you still have some ‘plums avail--able, this is a good jam; 2lbs. plums, Sibs. blackberries, 6lbs. sugar, 1 pint mean no ex-

water. Boil plums and water first, add the blackberries, and boil all together till soft — perhaps 15 to 20 minutes. Add the warmed sugar, stirring constantly till the sugar is thoroughly dissolved and the whole is boiling again. Then boil fast till the jam will set when tested. A small teaspoon of tartaric or citric acid added a few minutes before taking up helps it to set. Any blackberry jam may be strained if desired, to get rid of most of the seeds. Blackberry and Elderberry This jam is said to be equal to blackcurrant, very cheap, and should keep for twelve months. Take equal quantities of blackberries and elderberries, remove the stalks, and put them in a preserving pan. Squeeze them slightly, bring slowly to the boil, and boil for 20 minutes. Allow %4lb. sugar to each I1lb. of fruit. Put sugar on a dish, and warm in the oven before adding to the jam. Bring to the boil again, stirring continually, and boil about 20 minutes, or till it will set when tested on a plate. Blackberry Jam To each pound of fruit allow 42 cup water and 1%4lbs. sugar. Boil fruit and water together for 4% hour, beat with egg whisk or potato masher, or something similar, to break up berries. Add sugar and boil until it jellies (20 to 30 minutes). This makes excellent jam. Blackberry and Apple Jam Any quantity of blackberries, some red ones among them, and about one fourth the weight of apples. Simmer the berries to pulp with just sufficient water to prevent burning at the start. Strain through muslin bag. Cut up the apples roughly, including peels and cores, and boil to a pulp. Strain thtough colander. Mix the two strainings and to every pint of juice add %lb. of sugar. Stir until thoroughly dissolved. Boil until it sets when tested. Blackberry Jelly Hint When making blackberry jelly, pick berries when half ripe, not soft. Do not make too much at once, Half a dozen small pots at a time is better than a large quantity as it sets quicker. Blackberry Wine This recipe comes from "Ivy of Patumahoe." Her family have made it every year, and it never fails. Put any quantity of blackberries in a wooden or stone vessel, crush them, and cover well with water. The water may be boil- ing or cold. Stir often for a few hours, cover with a light cloth, and leave for 3 or 4 days. Strain off the liquid, and to every gallon add 3'%lbs. of sugar. Put into a keg or stone jar, but do not quite fill, keeping some liquid in a jug for adding after every skimming, to keep the quantity the same. It will work for about 2 or 3 weeks. Skim daily, adding liquid each time. Keep a piece of muslin over the keg. When it has -finished working, cork or bung lightly, gradually tightening the bung daily. The keg must not be moved. Bottle it in 6 months, although it is better left 12 months.