Blackberry Swirl Fairy Cakes/Cupcakes

All the fruit in my garden this year has been early.

Soft fruit from my garden - June & July 2014

The plums, even though we don't get that many, were ready three quarters of the way through July and I was lucky that I beat the birds (and wasps) to most of them!

We have a Victoria Plum tree and a Oullins Golden Gage tree. They are about 5-6 years old. The Victoria plum has fruited the last couple of years but only on the lower branches. The Oullins really struggles. We had about 5 fruit on it last year, this year only 1! I checked it everyday once the Victoria plums were ready worried either the birds would get it or it would fall off and bruise. Luckily I managed to pick it...and it was delicious!

The blackberries have been early too. I have a very prickly variety that aren't very big and very sour this year.  It has been very painful picking them especially with the strong winds we have been having. Just when I think I have found a way in with my arm without getting pricked a gust would blow the stems around...ouch! I may replace it with a thornless variety.

I freeze some of the blackberries putting them straight into a plastic tub waiting in the freezer. However, my freezer is absolutely stuffed full now so I stewed some with sugar and also added a fallen Bramley Seedling cooking apple to one batch to use as a pie filling. 

I thought I would try adding some stewed berries to a fairy cake mixture. This is how I made them and how they turned out.

Blackberry Swirl Cupcakes

Pre heat oven 140C for 25 mins

Makes approx 12

Cake Mixture :-

6 oz castor sugar

6 oz marg/butter.  I used Flora

6 oz self raising flour

3 large eggs

Tablespoon milk

Stewed Blackberries  :-

8 oz  Blackberries

2oz Light Soft Brown Sugar

Tsp water

 

Cook the blackberries on low heat with the soft brown sugar & water stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Then turn up the heat slightly to simmer until blackberries have softened and liquid thickens sightly. The liquid will thicken more as it cools.

 Put cake ingredients in bowl except milk.

Mix together with electric mixer until combined and glossy. Mix in tablespoon milk.

Spoon into cupcakes cases.  

Add teaspoon blackberry syrup mix & swirl through cake mixture.

Bake for approx  for approx 25 mins until golden & springy to touch. Leave to cool.

Suggestions for serving - dust with icing sugar/whipped cream/creme fraiche  or pipe vanilla butter icing on top. 

Zx

NB I am not a professional cook. This recipe has been devised by adding my own tweak on a traditional recipe using my oven. Temperatures/times may have to be altered to suit yours.

Strawberry and Elderflower Ice Cream recipe.....

In between telling you about my craft room I thought I would share some of the other things I've been up to.

I manage to beat the blackbirds to the most of the berries in my garden this year! I net some of the bushes but if I leave the tiniest gap they are in there when I'm not looking. I hang CD's around but I think they just check they haven't got berry juice on their faces in them!

When I went down a few weeks ago I thought a tiny bird had got trapped under the frame of netting over the strawberries & was panicking because I'd caught him red handed. But, as I bent down to lift the frame up it squeezed through less than an inch square hole in the net. It wasn't trapped at all. Cheeky thing! Not sure what bird it was. I'll have to buy even smaller holed net next year.

My soft fruit garden

Although my soft fruit is coming to an end this is what I did about 3 weeks ago with some of my strawberries.

We have quite a large strawberry patch which produce a bowlful every other day during the season. We all love strawberries in our house. I usually make scones but my youngest said he fancied some strawberry ice cream for a change.

I'm all for quick recipes and shortcuts as I don't want to be stuck in the kitchen on beautiful sunny days. I don't have an ice cream maker so I found a Strawberry Ice Cream recipe online that seemed quite straight forward without one.

The recipe says to make a sugar syrup first. This was going to take awhile to make & time to allow it to cool down so I thought.....I wonder if my Elderflower syrup I made in May would do? So, I gave it a go.

This is my Strawberry and Elderflower Ice Cream recipe -

1 lb (500g) strawberries roughly chopped

175 ml elderflower syrup (homemade using 1kg sugar approx 30 heads & 1 1/2 ltr water 3 lemons)

300 ml whipping cream

Blend strawberries with a Braun hand held blender.

Mix with elderflower syrup.

Whip cream until it holds it shape.

Fold strawberry mixture into cream.

Pour into freezer container & freeze.

When it starts to set around the edges (approx 1 hour) pour back into a bowl and whisk.Return to freezer. Approx every hour fork the frozen outer edge towards the middle and mix. Repeat a couple of times until evenly frozen. Keep in freezer until required allowing about half an hour to soften before serving.

Ta da!

This is quite a hard setting ice cream. Mine turned out a bit "icy" but when allowed to thaw it smoothed out a bit. I think I should have whisked a few more times rather than forking it. It got the thumbs up from a teenager so it couldn't have been all that bad!

I might make it again but try it with raspberries next time.

Zx