Death by Gin? (Bird Cherry Gin)

This morning I took an amble around Gartmorn Reservoir (my favourite local foraging location).

I saw apples, plums and hazelnuts and picked some Scotch Burnet Rose Hips. I also picked some Bird Cherries and thought I would take a wee gamble on them.

Bird cherries are small and incredibly bitter. Try biting into one and you'll see what I mean; first you get the juicy cherriness and then your entire mouth becomes instantly dry - hardly a thirst-quencher. Nevertheless, I thought I would try to make them palatable.

I thought it might be possible to use them to flavour gin. My only concern is that the seeds are said to be toxic. I'm thinking that this is the same toxicity that applies to all prunus seeds and that the small quantity I have used is unlikely to cause any harm. Any volunteers to taste my recipe?!

Bird Cherry Gin

177g bird cherries, washed and de-stemmed
100g granulated sugar
350ml gin

I'll shake this every day or so, to macerate the fruit. It should be ready for winter.

Until next time, Good (non-toxic) Foraging.

Kirkcaldy Cake (Black Forest Gâteau)

We are finally in full-blown fruit season in Scotland and I'm taking advantage of that. I currently have my eye on raspberries, redcurrants, pears and early brambles but today's recipe uses cherries (including homemade cherry jam and homemade cherry liqueur).

I made the cherry liqueur using the fruit and the stones of cherries. This adds a delicious almondy flavour and is the reason I call it 'Bakewell Tart' Liqueur.

I picked the cherries in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and decided to pair them with dark chocolate Toblerone to complement the almondy flavour of the liqueur.

Kirkcaldy Cake

(Nothing like Dundee Cake)

Ingredients:

225g cherries (weighed with stones removed)

500ml double cream

200ml creme fraiche

4 tablespoons Kirsch (cherry liqueur)

2 tablespoons cold water

100ml boiling water

100g cherry jam

25g cocoa

300g plain flour

2 eggs

200g dark Toblerone

375g caster sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

Method:

Heat oven to 180°C

Grease and line two sandwich tins.

Heat butter & 75g Toblerone over a low heat, stirring until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat.

Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

Whisk together eggs and creme fraiche.

Add chocolate and egg mixtures to the flour mixture and add the boiling water. Mix until smooth.

Divide mixture between 2 sandwich tins and bake for 25-50mins (my oven is wonky but just check with a skewer - pierce the cake and if the skewer comes out clean then they're ready).

Mix the water and liqueur together.

Pierce the top of each cake a few times and drizzle the liqueur mixture evenly over each cake.

Allow to cool.

Heat 200ml of double cream until almost simmering. 

Pour hot cream over remaining Toblerone and mix until chocolate is all melted.

Mix together the jam and cherries.

Gently whisk the remaining cream with the icing sugar.

Layer: cake, cream, jam, cake and then cover in the chocolate cream.

Eat in small portions - it's wicked!

Until next time, Good Foraging xx

Cherry No-Bakewells

Last week I wrote that I might make a Blaeberry recipe this week, but something else appeared which grabbed my attention.

I took my car into the local garage in Kirkcaldy and on the walk back to pick it up, I found a Cherry tree with beautiful ripe cherries hanging from it. How could I pass that opportunity by!

I have previously made Bakewell Tarts with Wild Strawberries, but I wanted to try something new. Facebook helped me to make my decision: several people have been raving about the new Nakd Bakewell bars, so I decided to make my own.

The recipe is from The Kitchen Shed and I haven't changed it.

I picked 750g of cherries (weighed with stones) and they dehydrated to 120g, although I over-dried them by mistake.

I don't have a food processor (it's on my wishlist for payday), so I used my coffee grinder to chop the nuts and cherries. I chopped the dates with a knife.

Cherry No-Bakewells

Ingredients:

90g dried cherries
150g cashews
6 Medjool dates

Method:

• Chop all ingredients finely and mix together thoroughly
• Press mixture firmly into a container
• Refridgerate for 2 hours+ (I left them overnight)
• Tip out the hardened mixture and cut into 8 sections
• Eat

These tasted delicious! However, I didn't think they tasted like Bakewell Tarts. If I were to make the recipe again, I would substitute ground almonds for some (if not all) of the cashews.

While I was making this recipe, I realised that I could have made a Black Forest Gateau. Never fear, I shall revisit the tree and aim to make a gateau next week. Until we meet again, Good Foraging!