The potential that a blackberry brings to the kitchen is endless; add a few to some gravy for a wonderful sweetness or, inevitably, use them alone or with other fruits for a marvellous array of puddings. Autumn also brings with it apples and pears and, preferring to eat my pears nice and ripe, I turned to perry to pair with my berries.
In order to use some locally made perry I had to get my Poirot on and try to find a supply. As luck would have it my butcher lives next door to a man who happens to make some using local pears. I returned to the old (and I think better) bartering system I managed to procure a bottle of fine perry in exchange for some rabbit ragu. Marvellous.
You will need:
Large handful blackberries
150ml water
100g sugar
5 sheets gelatine
500ml perry
Heat the water and sugar together until boiled then switch off the heat. Stir regularly to make sure the sugar is properly dissolved. Put the gelatine into some cold water for a few minutes until softened. Squeeze the gelatine out and then add to the sugar mixture. Pour the perry in to the pan and stir until the gelatine is dissolved.
Give the blackberries a quick wash to make sure that there’s nothing going in to the jelly that shouldn’t be and then divide the berries between glasses, mugs, bowls or whatever you have. Pour over the jelly and then put in to the fridge to set. You could make this as a giant jelly of course but I thought the jellies looked quite quaint in little glasses.
There was a bit of a scary moment when testing the wobble; still a liquid or so set that it would bounce off the wall were the two extreme possibilities but happily it was exactly as set as I would have liked. I’d never used gelatine before and was really pleased with the results.
I have to admit that this is one of the nicest things I have ever made. The berries were a mixture of sweet and acidic and the perry added a wonderful flavour and slight boozy edge. The colour was wonderful; the berries hanging in the clear jelly like lumpy jewels. This was a fantastic way to welcome in the autumn.
I bet that was good too! I wish we had more blackberries around here. I never had a problem finding them when I lived in NH but it is dryer here and they aren’t as plentiful.
That loks just brilliant. And thanks for the tip about adding backberries to gravy! Have a great week!
Lovely! When I was on holiday, I saw thousands of blackberries. Back home, I have no idea where any are. Used to pick them as a kid every year. I have to get back to it.
What gorgeous blackberries! I love to read about how you are able to pick them off wild. And the jelly looks delicious with the berries.
This looks quite spectacular, what a gorgeous idea. I’m a big fan of blackberries, but hardly ever manage to get the timing right and pick any. Managed a few this year though. Like your tip on adding some to gravy.
Very elegant and fresh tasting desert 🙂
you are very inventive. This is so professional looking. A great way to use what’s in season now. I love blackberries they are everywhere.
I adore blackberries – and this jelly is too adorable!!
I love jelly and this looks great! I like the combo blackberries and pears 🙂
What a delicacy my friend 😀
Cheers
CCU
this looks so sophisticated and delicious! you are so creative!
Looks gorgeous!
I like blackberries, but my kids love them even more than me (I have to hide the basket if I want use them!!). I love these blackberries floating in the glass, very elegant….and good.
towards the end of summer i was foraging for balckberries too! sounds yum in a bit of boozey jelly 😉
Lovely and a simple one for me to follow. I will try out with one of our local fruits.
This looks amazing – never even heard of Perry before. Shame on me! So it sounds you have good bartering skills as well as culinary creative! I’ll have to look out for this next time in the UK. Hmmm. Did you say blackberries and gravy too? Wonderful.
Mmm that looks really good! So pretty too. Unfortunately I ate all the blackberries I picked before I did anything with them heh heh. Might go and pick more this weekend.
Lovely dessert. I’ve made something similar using sauternes instead of perry. Served it as a dessert when we had friends round. It is a beautiful dessert; easy to prepare and tastes divine 🙂 Love the use of Perry in your recipe.
An elegant and delicious dessert. You are a very inventive cook!