Adventure 45: why sloe jam makes your home look like a crime scene

So here's the second part of my post. So, elderberries are first, all delicate but juicy. A paint to get off the stalks, but I worked out pretty quickly, that dragging a fork through them getsthe berries off pretty much unharmed.

Then they look all pretty and glistening like little beetle eyes.

The jelly is easy to make: measure the weight of your berries and put them in a pan for a few minutes to bruise them up with some water over the top. They start disintegrating pretty quickly and you must sieve them through a muslin to remove the seeds. Then add half as much weight in sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice (for pectin) and boil. I don't own a jam thermometer, but as a rule of thumb, put some of the mixture on the back of a spoon you've had in the freezer and if it sets, it's ready to take off the boil and pop in a sterilised container.

Now, for sloes. The new ones I picked, have been put on a tray in the freezer (this not only simulates the first frost making them better for sloe gin making but also makes them easier to store because they're not all frozen together in a big clump). As for my remaining sloes from last year, I decided to experiment and make jam. BIG MISTAKE! I treated them pretty much the same as the elderberries (there aren't many recipes out there for this) but the sieving process was an absolute nightmare. It was like doing a gym session, red gore went all over my hands, face and kitchen and at one point I was practically reduced to tears.

The result was some nice jam but bejesus, I swear I will not be making it ever again.

Lastly, I had my blackberries. I did some jam as I did last year, but strained it to make it a jelly but kept some behind to experiment with. I'm trying to do something like the cherry liqueur like last year. Completely experimental I might add. I've layered the blackberries with sugar in a bottle (this time using the balloon thing to prevent any explosions... My kitchen is clean...). It's already been fermenting using natural yeast (the balloons been swelling) and basically, I'll keep you posted with how it goes.

Then last weekend, we enjoyed some fantastic visitors, Matthias and Ronni from Cambridge. We had a great time in various pubs, including the Beer Cellar, Western, Bridge Inn, Imperial, The Albert etc. These photos are taken in the Fat Pig, where they have Raspberry and ginger gin. What more could you want?

Anyhow, back to work tomorrow, but then the weekend. Huzzah! Goodnight!