Blackberry and apple geranium swirl

My lovely blogging friends, Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Janice who blogs at Farmers Girl Kitchen are currently running a campaign to encourage us all to enjoy seasonal blackberries and have created #GBBR or Great British Blackberry Recipe Round Up. So I'll be linking up this post to there linky.

                                                    

If you are a regular reader of this blog then you will have no doubt noticed that along with courgette, blackberry recipes are quite common. I regularly post blackberry recipes as we have a large plant of the thornless variety "Loch Ness" in the garden, its a fabulous reliable variety and routinely spurs new plants, the plant I am currently picking from is a spur of a spur of a spur we moved from our previous home. The plant crops very well most years and produces large juicy berries so beloved for inclusion in jam, preserve and crumble recipes.

This recipe came about as I wanted to utilise the beautiful subtle flavour of a new scented leaved pelagonium for this year, "apple scented" and what better combination than apples and blackberries. I was aiming for a fool but decided to substitute the cream for yogurt instead to lighten the dish.

I have also been experimenting with my new camera too, not that I am trying to surpass Mr LF but just handy for when I am in the kitchen or he's not available. So far I am pretty pleased with the results. Anyway on to the easy recipe.

What you need

• 1 cup of blackberries (retain a few whole ones for decoration)
• A few Apple pelagonium (geranium) leaves (optional, still tastes great without them)
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
• 1 cup Greek yogurt (0% fat works well)
• 1/2 cup creme fraiche
• Qty of dinky glass pots or dishes to serve 

What you do

• Whiz up the blackberries, sugar and pelagonium leaves in the food processor until you have a puree
• Sieve the puree to remove the seeds,leaves and stalks.
• In another bowl mix the vanilla, yogurt and creme fraiche to combine
• Simply place alternate layers of the yogurt and puree into your glass pots and swirl using a cocktail stick
• Chill a little before serving

Blackberries and rose geranium crumble

When the blackberries are starting to ripen on our generous bush in the garden I know that summer is starting to come to a close, crumble is wonderful pudding at all times of year and is liked by most visitors whether served hot or cold. It can be infinitely varied depending on the fruit used under the crumbly crunchy topping. In this recipe we combine juicy blackberries with the fragrant rose geranium to give a slightly perfumed compote.

The combination came about as I wondered what recipes I could use my beautifully fragrant scented geranium leaf plants in, after all I had attar of roses, orange fizz, pink capitatum (lime scented) and Lady of Plymouth (rose mint scented) to try. 

I obtained my scented leaf geraniums from Otter Farm, home to Mark Diacono one time gardener at River Cottage and now Climate Change farmer, Otter Farm has a fantastic range of seeds and plants for sale for the more adventurous smallholder.

Since recently converting to gluten free I thought I'd have a go at making a gluten free crumble mixture, this recipe is great served with yogurt, cream or custard. The mixture will also store well in the fridge in a sealed container so you can whip a quick dessert in a flash, just combining with what ever fruit you have to hand.

What you need to make the scented compote

• Blackberries 
• A few rose scented geranium leaves
• A drop of water
• 1/2 weight of fruit in sugar (caster)

To make the compote

• In a pan add the blackberries, sugar, geranium leaves and a drop of water, bring to a gentle simmer until the blackberries are softened then allow to cool. Leave the leaves in the pan with the fruit compote until cold so the flavours have time to infuse.
• Once cold remove leaves and spoon into ramekins

To make the crumble, you will need

• 200g Gluten free flour 
• 100g Softened butter
• 100g soft brown sugar
• 50g  Gluten free Oats (if tolerated)

In a stand mixture mix all crumble ingredients until you have a crumbly mixture

• Now top the ramekins with the crumble mixture 

• Place in the oven at 180c on a baking tray and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until golden and the juices are rising from the berries.

• Serve hot or cold with or without cream or custard

Lucky for us most of the ingredients can be sourced from the garden and every year we have  ample quantities of lovely berries so for me this is pretty frugal dish using what we have at hand. For that reason I am linking up to No Waste Challenge, hosted this month by I'd much rather bake than and created by Elizabeths Kitchen and also to Shop Local also created by Elizabeths Kitchen.

And Credit crunch munch crreated by Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food for all , hosted this month by Elizabeths Kitchen.

This post is also being linked to The Great British Blackberry Recipe Round Up with Lavender and Lovage and Farmersgirl Kitchen