This is the Saucy Dressings go-to chutney…well, alright, it’s a dead heat between this, the white peach chutney, and the Christmasy mandarin and cranberry chutney. The other two go very well with cold meats, and this blackberry and apply chutney pairs perfectly with cheese.
It is dead easy to make, and the perfect thing to do with at least some of the annual glut.
For a post on various easy methods for sterilising jars, follow this link.
Blackberry and Apple Chutney
Ingredients
- 600g/1 lb 5 oz/ 6-8 apples
- 600g/1 lb 5 oz blackberries
- 240 ml/1 cup cider vinegar
- 190g/¾ cup soft brown sugar – or a little less if you have very ripe fruit
- 3 small onions or 2 medium ones, peeled and chopped
- 110g/⅔ cup raisins
- 110g/⅔ cup sultanas
- 2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with 1 tsp textured salt
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp mace or ground cinnamon (optional)
- 1 tbps apple brandy or calvados (optional)
Instructions
- Put the blackberries in a saucepan together with the vinegar for twenty minutes.
- Peel and core, and roughly chop, the apples. Crush the peeled garlic with the salt if you haven’t already done this.
- Rub the blackberries through a colander or a thick sieve, back into the saucepan – your aim is to remove the pips. Add the remaining ingredients. Cook gently until the mixture thickens – this will take about half an hour. You don’t want it too thick or it goes dry.
- Leave to cool a little and then pour into sterilised jars and cover.
Helpful advice for those who tend to burn their chutney from Elizabeth Luard
“Chutney is a friendly thing. The worst that can happen is that the fruit is watery and needs extra simmering to thicken it. But it’s the devil of a sticker in the later stages – so choose a rainy afternoon when you don’t mean to go anywhere, and keep stirring. If it all goes horribly wrong and a smoking crust forms on the bottom of the pan, tip whatever’s loose into a clean pan without stirring or scraping. Whatever sticks to the bottom of the first pan will taste burnt. The rest will be fine.”
Elizabeth Luard, in her substack newsletter, Cookstory