Orchard Fruits Oven Poached in Blackberry Juice

We’ve noticed a bit of a chill in the evenings recently and it won’t be too long before we are able to start harvesting the first of our apples, plums, pears and blackberries. I’ve noticed there’s already a touch of rosiness on some of the apples on our trees. This lovely, comforting pudding may be made with any quantity of fruit, just choose your favourites from whatever is available to you. We’ll be feasting on variations of this delicious pudding for a few weeks to come, as soon as the fruits start ripening, and we will never tire of it. I juice wild blackberries from the local hedgerows, together with apples from our orchard if needed, to make the cooking liquid and together they make such a delicious base that I’ll be freezing as many of them as I can for future puddings! As the fruit gently poaches, it takes on a most glorious colour from the blackberry juice.

You will need:

A punnet or two of blackberries, or a mixture of blackberries and raspberries
A heaped teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a generous pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons of brown sugar, either Demerara or soft brown, according to taste (this may be adjusted later if you prefer the fruit a little sweeter)
an assortment of orchard fruits such as apples, pears and plums

Method:

juice the blackberries and make the volume of liquid up to 500mls with either water, red wine or apple juice

If you don’t have a juicer use this method instead:

– place the blackberries into a thick-bottomed pan

– gently heat the fruit until the juices start to run from the berries (about 5 minutes)

– push the berries through a mesh sieve to collect the juice, discarding the residue

preheat the oven to 180°C
peel and core the pears and apples then cut them into halves or quarters

halve the plums and remove the stones
place all the fruit into an oven proof dish

sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon over the fruit and then pour over the blackberry juice

cover the baking dish with foil and bake the fruit for 30 minutes, or until the fruits feel soft when pierced with a sharp knife.
carefully taste the cooking liquid and add a touch more sugar if necessary

We like this tasty pudding served with lots of the fruity cooking liquid and a generous dollop of Greek yoghurt! It’s just as delicious whether served hot, warm or cold.