Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Autumn means blackberries and apples. . . . . .


In the early 1950's, Great Britain still had a lot of 
post-war food rationing, however imported fruits and 
vegetables were starting to appear along with more 
seasonal local items. 
As a child, I recall the hedgerows around the fields being 
rife with fat, juicy blackberries at this time of year.  
With money short, we were sent out with a basket, 
an old damp flannel (wash cloth to Americans) for our 
soon-to-be deeply stained fingers, reminded to watch for 
cars (very few), and farm tractors in the lanes, and told 
to come home with a nice load of berries for 'pudding'. . .
and not to eat too many along the way!
Apples were plentiful once orchards were being better 
maintained again.


Although my mum made a scrumptious classic blackberry 
and apple tart, I'm still enjoying the ease and speed of 
rustling up a galette for a quick dessert. I've just 
about given up making my own crust and decided store-bought 
makes life much easier and they are really quite good.
With a box of chilled pie crusts (they come two to 
a package) kept in the refrigerator, and whatever fresh 
fruits you enjoy, this has to be quite a nutritious 
way to eat dessert, and personally I love cooked fruit 
rather than raw. Just don't overload it 
with sugar, only a wee bit required as all fruits are 
naturally sweet. 
This blackberry and apple version is perfect for autumn, 
as is the gorgeous plum one I showed HERE a few months 
back - with easy directions.
  

Today I'm cutting up one of these golden pumpkins to 
oven roast along with shallots and fresh herbs from the 
autumn garden. Will let you know how it turns out.


16 comments:

  1. I do love blackberry pie. cobbler, usually. That one looks really scrumptious!!

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  2. That is something. Our blackberries on our farm are usually ready by the 4th of July. Wish the deer didn't eat all of my apple tree leaves so I could get a basket of apples.

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  3. I enjoyed your thoughts on blackberry picking when you were a child. Blackberries are something I don't tend to buy as they are so seedy but they are also very delicious. Your apple galette looks delicious. Enjoy!

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  4. We always went blackberrying in the autumn too, mum made lovely blackberry and apple pies. When the children were at home I always made them as well and apple and blackberry jam - scrummy! Bet all the Anthropologie shops are in the South of England!!:) Must see if I can find the London one next time I'm down there and will check out where the others are too.

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  5. Looks yummy to me! I enjoy your stories of your homeland. My sister-in-law is from England & is the best cook!

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  6. All that food talk is making me hungry. I love blackberry and apple together.

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  7. Oh the abundance of fresh produce at this time of year is truly a delight.
    Your galette looks delicious! Roasted pumpkin, I will be curious to hear about.
    Loved, loved the story of your childhood. Yes, we often were sent out to pick
    fresh berries, apples, cherries, plums, oh my fond memories.

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  8. Living on a farm in Sussex there were a lot of hedgerows which we trudged along and gathered the blackberries. Also remember when the blackberry season was over all of the hedges around the village were trimmed.. the branches gathered for the Nov. 5th bonfire which was always on a piece of land on the farm. Such memories.
    Patricia

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  9. Your galettes always look like a work of art... a very tasty work of art. This combination of fruit sounds particularly delicious to me. I do have one of those ready made crusts tucked away in the freezer. Think I may give this a try.
    The galette plate also looks very cute. I was reading the rim and am now curious to see what is hiding beneath the galette :).
    Anxious to hear how the roasted pumpkin turns out.

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  10. I will have to try a pie like that sometime! The blackberry and apple combination sounds yummy.

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  11. Your photographs are beautiful and the dessert looks really good too!

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  12. Ohhh delicious looking. I love to mix different fruits. And I love pumpkin season.

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  13. We were saying the other day that we should go blackberrying; and did nothing about it! I love blackberry and apple. Do you do crumbles out there? A good crumble with custard is wonderful!

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    1. Oh yes Mike, I make lots of crumbles - I use the food For Thought cookbook recipes - did you ever eat at their restaurant near Covent Garden? We can buy Bird's Custard powder here now - I use it for crumbles and of course Trifle!
      Mary -

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  14. Your galette looks delicious and what a great combination of fruits. We go blackberry picking around here in late August. This year was a bit early and the berries were mushy because of the heat. We didn't get as many as we usually do. I freeze them to use year-round in cobblers and such. Haven't tried a pie because of all the seeds, but mixing the berries with apples would cut that down.

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