“O, blackberry tart, with berries as big as your thumb, purple and black, and thick with juice, and a crust to endear them that will go to cream in your mouth, and both passing down with such a taste that will make you close your eyes and wish you might live for ever in the wideness of that rich moment.”
From ‘How Green Was My Valley’ by Richard Llewellyn (1906 – 1893)
* * * * * * *
The Blackberry Gatherers by Elizabeth Adela Forbes (1859 – 1912)
* * * * * * *
Fringing the woods, the stone walls, and the lanes,
Old thickets everywhere have come alive,
Their new leaves reaching out in fans of five
From tangles overarched by this year’s canes.
They have their flowers too, it being June,
And here or there in brambled dark-and-light
Are small, five-petaled blooms of chalky white,
As random-clustered and as loosely strewn
As the far stars, of which we now are told
That ever faster do they bolt away,
And that a night may come in which, some say,
We shall have only blackness to behold.
I have no time for any change so great,
But I shall see the August weather spur
Berries to ripen where the flowers were—
Dark berries, savage-sweet and worth the wait—
And there will come the moment to be quick
And save some from the birds, and I shall need
Two pails, old clothes in which to stain and bleed,
And a grandchild to talk with while we pick.
Richard Wilbur (1921 – )
* * * * * * *
From ‘The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady’
* * * * * * * *
Coughton Court’s blackberry cheesecake
Ingredients
300g freshly picked blackberries (washed and drained)
350ml whipping cream
350g full fat cream cheese
350g digestive biscuits
120g butter (softened)
130g caster sugar
Method
Place a 9 inch flan ring on a flat tray and line with greased greaseproof. Place the biscuits into a processor and mix till fine crumbs are achieved.Place the crumbed biscuit into a bowl and add the softened butter. With a wooden spoon mix thoroughly.Fill the base of the flan ring with the crumb mix pressing down firmly. Place in a refrigerator, for at least an hour, to firm up.Heat up a saucepan and add the blackberries and sugar, gently cook them together until the sugar is melted, keeping the fruit as whole as possible. Remove from heat and allow to cool.Place the cream cheese into a bowl and mix until smooth.Whisk the cream till it forms soft peaks.Carefully fold the cream into the cream cheese using a whisk.Gently fold in the blackberries to the cream and cheese mix (the aim is to get a marbled effect, so don’t over mix at this stage).Remove the biscuit base from the refrigerator and fill with the blackberry mix.Carefully level off the mix and return to the refrigerator for at least a further hour.When set remove from the refrigerator, carefully slip off the flan ring and gently remove the greaseproof from the sides of the cheesecake. Cut into portions using a sharp knife dipped in hot water. Decorate with a generous sprig of fresh garden mint.
Courtesy of the National Trust
* * * * * * *
Blackberries by Raphael Peale (1774 – 1825)
* * * * * * *
“September 15th. – This is the month of quiet days, crimson creepers, and blackberries; of mellow afternoons in the ripening garden; of tea under acacias instead of too shady beeches; of wood fires in the library in chilly evenings.”
From ‘Elizabeth and her German Garden’ by Elizabeth Von Arnim (1866 – 1941)
* * * * * * *
Blackberrying by Harold Harvey (1874 – 1941)
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
So, what would you make with them?
* * * * * * *
Oh, what a lovely post!
LikeLike
Thank you – I had a lovely time putting it together.
LikeLike
Oh, Jane, WHAT a wonderful post. All that was missing was a serving of Llewellyn’s tart. Heavenly. I think, just, that the Plath poem might be the best morsel of all
LikeLike
I can’t chose a favourite, but I wouldn’t argue against Plath. A picture to match Llewelyn’s words would have been lovely but I couldn’t find the right one, and sometimes we have to conjure the right one in our minds. Or do the picking and baking ….
LikeLiked by 2 people
A fabulous post! Just perfect 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you – I love this time of the year, and I think it inspired me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The blackberry cheesecake sounds yummy! Unrelated blog question: In your opinion, what’s the must-see place to visit in Cornwall? Or the best spot to spend a week?
LikeLike
Oh my goodness, that is an almost impossible question and I am probably biased, but here goes. If you would prefer to stay in a town I’d say Penzance and St Ives, which have plenty to see and are a good base for exploring interesting areas. I’m thinking St Michael’s Mount, the Minack Theatre, Barbara Hepworth’s sculpture garden …. and, if you’re a Poldark fan, Ross’s mines at Botallack! Or if you’d rather stay in country I’d look for something mid county where you’re not too far from those things and a little nearer to Daphne Du Maurier’s home in Fowey, the Eden Project and the moors.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks!! What about a favorite seaside spot?
LikeLike
Well, St Ives and Newquay have lovely beaches, but they tend to be busy. Portreath is popular with surfers, but my pick would be Marazion, a couple of miles out of Penzance, which isn’t quite so manic and has views of St Michael’s Mount and the possibility of a walk over the causeway at low tide. Sennen is lovely too, but I’m not sure if it’s safe of you want to swim.
LikeLike
What a beautiful post, Jane – thank for sharing these lovely things with us. I love autumn and the quote from Elizabeth von Arnim is just perfect.
LikeLike
You’re very welcome – I had a lovely time gathering them all together.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh I do love blackberries! And I loved this post!
LikeLike
Me too – and I loved putting this post together.
LikeLike
These words and images are so beautiful and such a gift to assemble them this way–thank you! I have blackberries sometimes from a local farm. As lovely as baking them into a tart would be, I just eat them straight off with some light cream!
LikeLike
Thank you. Blackberry and apple crumble is probably the favourite in our house, but straight off with some light cream sounds lovely. We’d need a longer blackberry season to explore all of the interesting possibilities.
LikeLike
Add me to the chorus of praise for this post – it’s delightful. I enjoyed them all, but Plath’s poem is so evocative.
LikeLike
Thank you. I agree that Plath is wonderfully evocative, and as I love the Wilbur too for different reasons I had to build a collection to include both,
LikeLike
Such a lovely collection, Jane! When I was a child we always had blackberry bushes in the back yard (threatening to take it over), and my mother made the best blackberry jam. I’ve never found a store jam that even comes close.
LikeLike
And a lovely memory – thank you for sharing it.
LikeLike
Lovely,Jane!
LikeLike
Thank you – it was lovely to find so any things to fit my chosen theme.
LikeLike
Jane…what a marvelously wonderful post…love the poems and the paintings especially!
LikeLike
I’m glad you think so – I had a lovely time gathering them all together.
LikeLike
What a wonderful celebration of blackberries! I love the Richard Wilbur poem and the Raphael Peale in particular. I think Galway Kinnell has a good blackberrying poem, too. I only had a few blackberries this year and made blueberry/ blackberry muffins with them– delicious, but apple blackberry crumble sounds even better.
LikeLike
I’ve never made muffins, but I really should. And thank you for mentioning Galway Kinnell’s blackberrying poem – I’ll look it up.
LikeLike
What a great idea for a post! I also like the Plath – so vivid. I think I would like to make this with my blackberries: http://www.marthastewart.com/315697/blackberry-cloud-cake-with-pistachios#Blackberry%20Recipes|/274904/blackberry-recipes/@center/276955/seasonal-produce-recipe-guide|315697
LikeLike
Thank you. That sounds lovely, and the sort of thing that would work well in our Aga. I could imagine it working with raspberries too ….
LikeLike
This was a lovely post and you could see what fun you had putting it together! I love autumn … although the change from Sunny Cornwall to Freezing, Rainy Birmingham has been a bit of a shock!
LikeLike