it’s that time of the year again, time to harvest the free fruit that grows around us. 

Blackberries grow almost everywhere, even in urban areas and they are a delight that we should all take advantage of. 

They are high in vitamins, and if you can’t afford to buy fruit and vegetables from a supermarket or shop, you can pick these for free. 

Children love eating these whilst picking and my daughter always eats more than we take home. 

There are lots of things that can be made from Blackberries. Jam, Cake, Crumble, Wine, Cordial. The list goes on and on. 

Yesterday, because the sun was shining for a change and I’m skint and didn’t have anything sweet at home, we decided that we would go Blackberry picking and make some Blackberry crumble when we returned home. 

This is how I make it, everyone has their own tastes and therefore the recipe can be adjusted to suit yours. My reciepe is very basic. 

It’s important to wash your Blackberries after picking and to soak them in a very diluted solution of salt and water. This helps any bugs and debris  that might be lurking to float to the top. I’ve never come across any bugs, but I keep up the tradition of doing this. Call me old fashioned, but if it was good enough for my grandparents to do then I will follow suit. 

After soaking place in a dish of your choice. It doesn’t have to be a fancy one. The one that I use is an old lasagne one left over from the days when I could afford to cook lasagne. You can use any dish that’s suitable for the oven. 

Once in the dish, sprinkle with normal granulated sugar to taste. If you have a sweet tooth add more, if not add less. I also added Cinnamon mainly because we like the taste and for the various health properties that it has. 

Time to make the topping. 

My daughter and put as much flour as we thought would be needed to cover the top in a bowl. Yes, we played it by eye. We like a lot of topping and I’m really bad at using exact measurements. 

I grated enough cold butter to mix and bind the four together so it resembles sand once finished. Again we used guesswork and I’m hopeless with measurements. 

I also added some sugar and cinnamon. Just enough to make it nice and sweet. 

My daughter then placed the topping on top of the Blackberries. She likes to make a pattern on the top. She’s ten years old and it’s a good sensory activity for her. This did take her some time to perfect her pattern!

Ready to put in the oven. 

I placed it in the oven at gas mark 5, 375f and 191c. 

I watched it and took it out when it looked ready. It really wasn’t in the oven long therefore not using much energy up. 

The finished creation. 

This can be ate on its own, with custard (the packet custard is really good with this), and if you can afford it it can be ate with cream and Icecream also. 

To make this a vegan dish just replace the butter with a vegan equivalent. 

Happy eating! And don’t forget to look out for the blackberries. 

I’m harvesting some cherries from a friends cherry tree today, and will also be harvesting some Sloe berries to make some christmas presents with. 

Free food given to us by nature is the best food! Enjoy!