What To Do With A Glut of Brambles

Bramble Glut Posset

This year has just been phenomenal for brambles. Our garden seemed to be overrun with the thorny buggers. Next year’s tangle thrashing around like demented spiky snakes, waiting to catch the unwary as they gather the fruit from this season’s pickings.

I have had more than my fair share of scratches and miniscule thornlets embedded in my fingers and hands. And as for the staining – don’t wear white *anything* when brambling.

What I found interesting is how fast they ripen; on several days, I’d been picking twice a day, which is why my freezer is crammed with these divinely purple gems. It had got to the point where I needed to make use of them in some other way. So in my pantry there are several jars of pickled brambles ready for the Christmas cold table; gin hidden away for cocktails and cider vinegar turning a glorious deep crimson.

A Glut of Autumnal Fruits – Apples and Brambles

There has, of course, been the obligatory apple and bramble crumble (apples from our tree), but now I’m getting a little bored of that pudding, nice as it is. My mind turns towards making posset, a rich boiled cream and fruit dessert that is simplicity itself.

Normally made with lemons, this alternative is a pretty, almost shocking pink-coloured little sinner that makes all the pain of picking these autumnal delights seem like a distant memory.

Next up, I think could possibly be bramble curd with the last forage maybe a bramble and apple cake. You, my lovely readers, will have to wait and see what is up my bramble-scarred sleeves!

Fuschia Pink Bramble Posset! All it needs is either some lavender shortbread or langues du chat

Bramble Posset

450ml double cream
100g caster sugar
Juice ½ lemon
100ml bramble purée
5 plump brambles or blackberries

Pour cream into a thick-bottomed pan, add the sugar and over a low heat stir the cream until the sugar has dissolved.
Bring to the boil and let it bubble away for about three minutes, give it a quick stir every now and again
Away from the heat, add the lemon juice and bramble purée, stir vigorously. It may look as if it’s curdling, but just keep stirring, until you have a smooth thick cream.
Pour into five espresso cups then refrigerate for a couple of hours. Before serving, top each posset with a big fat dollop of clotted cream (I love Rodda’s)  bramble.
Serve with langues du chat or any other thin, crisp biscuit.

The crowing glory of the finished posset – Rodda’s clotted cream

 

(C) Lea Harris, In the Kitchen with BakersBunny, 2016