Autumn is my favourite season, I love spending our weekends going for walks in Epping Forest, filling our pockets with treasures and foraging for blackberries before heading home for a roast dinner and curling up in front of the fire.
With our Autumn Fairy Play Kit in mind, inspired by British hedgerows in Autumn, here are our family's favourite recipes using freshly foraged blackberries (that's if you don't scoff them all before you get home!)
Blackberry jam
I love making jam! The year I was pregnant with Will I made over 150 jars (I'm blaming the hormones). And this recipe, from Delicious Magazine, is my absolute favourite one to make.
Yes, it can be challenging making jam with smaller children, but there are plenty of jobs in the process that their little hands can get involved with. My two especially love making and decorating labels while I'm busy decanting the boiling jam into the jars!
Blackberry muffins
I love making these BBC Good Food blackberry muffins with the kids, and because there's no icing involved I find them a much easier bake to make with small helpers than some of the other recipes out there - and they make a great post school snack too!
Blackberry and apple crumble
Apple and blackberry crumble is an absolute classic family dish for us and will bring back memories of Autumn evenings for many of you too! I enjoy making this simple recipe from All Recipes and with just 15 minutes of prep to create one of the most soul-warming desserts around, it's an obvious choice for us after foraging in the woods.
Banana and blackberry swirl
Do your kids watch Daniel Tiger? Mine went through a (rather annoying!) phase of being obsessed with it, and in one episode they make something called 'banana swirl', which is basically blending frozen bananas or frozen blended bananas - and my kids love this healthy alternative to ice cream! Last Autumn we tried adding a handful of our blackberries and they loved the taste and the amazing colour the berries added.
Have you got a favourite Autumnal recipe, or a family tradition that you make after foraging for berries in the Autumn? Let us know!