Forage & Feast: Blackberries

15+ recipes to use your foraged blackberries

The blackberries have just started to ripen where I live, so this week I’m encouraging you to get out and pick some! It’s funny, people are often a bit confused by my foraging escapades, but I’d hazard a guess that these same people have picked and eaten wild blackberries at some point in their lives… and humans have always eaten these dark and delicious fruits. Blackberry seeds have even been found in the stomachs of people excavated at Neolithic sites, dating back to the 5th century BC!

If you manage to get some blackberries home without eating them all on the way, you could try one of the recipes I’ve collected below, some of which have been recommended by readers.

Blackberries are high in antioxidants and the leaves, roots and fruits have been used in various ways as cold and flu remedies for centuries because of their astringent and antiseptic qualities. So go on, get out there and pick some of those juicy berries*.

Blackberry Recipes

• Blackberry jam is a classic, but if you can find damsons and elderberries near you (which ripen between August and October in the UK), you could make this foraged fruits jam/jelly! Freeze your blackberries until the other fruits are ripe.

• Blackberry liqueur / Crème de mûre, blackberry vodka and blackberry whisky are all really easy to make and make great gifts too.

• I have been meaning to make a Blackberry sorbet since my friend told me he made some a couple of years back (I can’t help but sing it to the tune of Raspberry Beret every time I think about it though). I made a mango sorbet recently with no ice cream maker and instead froze the mixture, blended it, froze it again and repeated that process - I’m sure this would work in much the same way.

• I like the look of this no-churn blackberry ripple ice cream too!

• Blackberry baked oats make a lovely breakfast on a rainy day.

• You can’t go wrong with a blackberry crumble (Kim says she freezes her blackberries to chuck into various crumbles throughout autumn and winter, which is always a good idea).

• I might try this easy blackberry loaf cake this year.

• If you’re looking for a dinner party pud, Mary Berry’s wild bramble mousse is sure to impress! A blackberry cobbler would go down just as well though I’m sure…

• I had the pleasure of talking to former Bake Off contestant, Steph Blackwell, this week (who has a great Substack) and her book, Bake Yourself Happy•, has three lovely sounding blackberry recipes in, one of which we’ll be featuring in the next issue of The Happy Newspaper! You can also find a blackberry, almond and apple crumble recipe by Steph here.

• Blackberries and almonds really are the perfect combo - this tart looks lovely too!

• Earlier in the year you can also collect the younger leaves to make a tea, which is meant to help with inflamed gums, mouth ulcers, skin conditions, indegestion and many other things. I’ve seen people add blackberries to ice teas too - like this. My friend Kate said she makes a blackberry and nettle seed tea, so I will try and get the recipe for that from her too!

Thanks to everyone who recommended recipes on Instagram. If you have any other blackberry recipe recommendations please leave them in the comments!

*Did you know that blackberries aren’t really berries in the botanical sense? They’re actually aggregate fruits (fruits that consist of a number of smaller fruits). Bananas, cucumbers and avocados ARE berries though apparently… Who knew?!

Important notice: Never eat something unless you’re 100-percent sure you can identify it correctly. Do your research and make sure it’s safe to eat, and in what quantities. In the UK, we have common law to forage the four Fs (fruit, flowers, fungi and foliage) for personal consumption, but never uproot anything without permission and only take what you need if it’s growing in abundance - leave enough for wildlife to thrive!

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