Monday 26 August 2013

Abundance

We went to the PYO farm and picked redcurrants, blackcurrants, and raspberries.  Oh, those raspberries!

Fruit abundance!
Just some of the fruit we came back from the PYO with
Then we went to the forest and picked blackberries.  So many blackberries!

Stewed apple and blackberries
Stewed apple and blackberries


It has been a incredible year for fruit in London.  I think the combination of wet spring and hot summer have suited the berries very well.

One of the great joys of going berry picking is the speculation about what you will do with your berries when you get home.  So far this summer I have made:
  • apple and redcurrant crumble (at least three of these)
  • raspberry and apple crumble
  • raspberry crumble (two of these)
  • raspberry and almond cake (using this failsafe recipe here)
  • raspberry and vanilla cake
  • blackcurrant and almond cake (same recipe as above)
  • raspberry coulis
  • stewed apple and blackberries
  • lemon and blackberry loaf cake

Raspberry and almond cake
Raspberry and almond cake

We have also stirred handfuls of berries into porridge, bircher muesli and plain yogurt for breakfast.  I am particularly partial to ryvita spread with cream cheese and then topped with raspberries or blackberries and a drizzle of honey.  We've had so many berries that I don't even mind Olivia standing in front of the open fridge eating great handfuls of them straight from the punnet.  

There is a generous abundance this year.

Blackberries
About half of what we picked during a stroll through Epping Forest

10 comments:

  1. Crumbles are always good! Really like the idea of the raspberry and almond cake too. We had Nigella's Chocolate raspberry pudding cake last night with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you're looking for more berry ideas - totally delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wish there were more people in my house who would eat berries but it's just me! Always puts me off baking with them. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely. I've had lots of berries this year too, but not quite enough raspberries - they're my favourite. The raspberry and almond cake looks wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  4. yum. I'm planning on making your failsafe almond cake later, we love it, and there are visitors coming so we Need cake! The blackberries here aren't quite ready yet, but I can tell it's going to be an amazing year, if only I could find a good apple tree for scrumping.......

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think berries are my favourite fruits. Made a lovely strawberry and blackberry coulis to go with baked vanilla cheesecake at the weekend. Yum! I love the look of your raspberry and almond cake. I thought I had left a comment on your previous post. A shortened version is just to say have you thought about joining parkrun? My teenage son has recently been building up his confidence running and joined parkrun. It is really great because parks across London (and UK) run this event weekly. You get timed and your results are put up on the web for you to see. It shows you your personal best time etc and each week you can compare your results to the previous week. It is free to join and adults and children can take part!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Simone! Yes, I am already a devotee of parkrun - it's fast becoming the highlight of my week :) x

      Delete
  6. I feel a need to make that fruit and almond cake!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Olivia's way is my favourite too, though I am seriously tempted by the look of your cake.

    ReplyDelete
  8. How on earth have I missed the berry season? What have I been doing? Aarghh... the problem is I always think the berries mark the start of autumn, whereas in fact they are a late summer delight. I'm off down the country lanes by my house this very afternoon, goddammit! There WILL be some berries left for us!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Parkside is fab, I can't wait for the sweetcorn to be ready!
    Your cake looks delicious x

    ReplyDelete

Even though I often do not have the time to reply to everybody, I really appreciate all your comments so much - thank you for taking the time to read my blog and share your thoughts on what I've written.