Best Fresh Fruit Recipes: Blackberries, Apples and Grapes

The following fruit recipes use fruits, peels, and juice that you extract easily yourself at home. You can adjust the amounts of sugars in these dishes and substitute honey if you like. I find that the Blackberry Jelly just below is equally good with red or black raspberries and even mulberries.

This recipe provides about 5 jelly glasses of blackberry jelly.

All You Need Is:

• 4 Cups of Blackberry Juice – This would be 2.5 Quart baskets of blackberries and 3/4 Cup (12 oz.) of water to produce the juice (instructions).
• 3 Cups sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

• Where you have the choice, choose about 1/4 of the berries to be a bit under-ripe and the rest ripe but not mushy.
• Sort the berries, discarding any rotten or dried up berries, then wash them. Drain on a clean kitchen towel.
• Remove berry stems or caps, crush berries, and place into a medium sized saucepan
• Add water and cover the pan.
• Bring the pan to a boil over medium-high heat.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Strain the pulp for the compost pile and keep the juice.
• <Interlude>
• Measure the blackberry juice you just made into a pot.
• Pour in sugar and mix with a wooden spoon.
• Boil the syrup over high heat until the jelly mixture falls in sheets from a metal spoon dipped in. While cooking, rinse clean jelly glasses in very hot water.
• Remove the pot from the burner; skim off the jelly foam and pour jelly quickly into hot containers and seal with hot paraffin.

This pie bakes up best if you can pick green grapes while their seeds are still soft. Ask your local famer’s market staff if they can help you with that. If you live in an area that offers pick-your-own eating grapes, so much the better – and more fun. Take the kids with you for picking fresh produce in the country air.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Cup of green grapes
• 1 Cup of granulated sugar
• A small quantity of spring water to dissolve the sugar
• 1 Unbaked pie shell or
• Alternate Cobbler Crust Ingredients (see Instructions)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Wash grapes and place them in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
• Simmer grapes until the skins are tender.
• Pour the cooked grapes into a pie shell and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Alternate Cobbler Crust

• 1 stick of butter/margarine
• 1 Cup each flour, sugar, and milk
• 1 tsp each of salt and baking power
• Melt the butter in a baking dish.
• In a separate bowl, mix all remaining ingredients.
• Pour the crust batter into the baking dish with out any stirring.
• Pour the grape filling into the batter without stirring.
• Bake at 375 degrees F until cobbler crust rises and browns.

Cottage Cheese in pie? Yes, another unual combination. Cheddar cheese has long been an accompaniment for apple pie in America. This recipe offers a different type of cheesy custard atop fresh baked apple slices in a golden brown pastry.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pie crust in a 9-inch pie pan, or purchase ready made
• 2 Whole eggs
• 3/4 Cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 Cup scalded Half-and-Half
• 3/4 Cup 2% milk
• 1 tsp pure vanilla
• 1 Cup cottage cheese, any style or fat content
• 4 Large apples to make 1 Cup apples, sliced very thins and then measured
• ¼ Cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Beat eggs lightly in a bowl; pour in sugar, salt, Half-and-Half, milk, vanilla, and cottage cheese, mix lightly and set aside this CUSTARD mixture.
• Peel, core, and slice 4 large apples.
• Combine the sliced apples with 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and pour into the pie crust.
• Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes.
• Turn down the oven to 325 degrees F; scoop CUSTARD evenly over the top surface and bake for another 40 minutes so that the top becomes golden brown.

Pears are one of my favorite fruits, for eating alone, in pies, and as preserves. Use your favorite variety from your market or your own tree.

Provides a Dozen 8oz jelly jars of conserve.

• 1 dozen sterilized glass canning jars, lids, and rings.
• 5 Pounds of ripe pears to yield 15 cups cut up fruit
• 10 Cups sugar
• 2 Cups seedless raisins
• 1/2 Cup orange rind, small dice
• 1 Cup orange juice
• 4 Tbsp lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

• Wash and peel the pears and cut them up to the desired size - bite sized pieces are good.
• Place the cut up pears into a large mixing bowl.
• Add all the sugar to the pears and let stand covered overnight.
• Next morning, add seedless raisins, orange rind, and the juices form the oranges and lemons.
• Cook the fruit mixture until thickened – for about 30-35 minutes.
• Pour into the sterilized jelly canning jars and leave empty a 1/2 inch of headspace.
• Put on caps, and ring bands and tighten.
• Process the jars in a Boiling Water Bath for 10 minutes..[See this link for Boiling Water Bath Processing under "Watermelon Preserves."]

Makes 6 Cups of marmalade, packed in pint or half-pint glass canning jars

INGREDIENTS

• 3 pint or 6 half-pint canning jars, lids, and ring bands
• 2 Large oranges
• Spring water – several quarts
• 4 Pounds pears to yield 9 cups of pears of a large dice
• 2 Cups canned crushed pineapple
• Granulated sugar (See Instructions for measurement)
• 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 8-oz. bottle of red maraschino cherries, halved

INSTRUCTIONS

• Wash oranges and peel them. Toss out the fibrous white membranes or use in compost.
• Using the peels, add 1 quart of water and the peels to a large pot placed over medium- high heat and boil for 5 minutes.
• Drain the peels and discard the water – use it in the garden.
• Add another quart of water and boil again 5 minutes; drain and discard water again.
• Grind these peels and oranges together the pot.
• Wash, peel, seed, and core the pears –- Make sure to remove all seeds and sharp fibers.
• Cut the pears up into a large dice and combine them with the orange mixture and the pineapple.
• Measure the amount of fruit you have at this point with a measuring cup. Add in an amount of sugar equal to half the amount of the fruit mixture.
• Add lemon juice to the fruit and sugar and mix very well.
• Cook fruit over medium-high heat to a rapid boil and continue until almost thick. This should take 30 to 40 minutes - - Stir every 10 minutes.
• Add in the halved cherries and cook the entire pot of fruit mix for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Pour the jelly into the sterilized glass jars with 1/2 inch of empty head space at the top of each. Put on the jar caps and screw the ring bands on snug.
• Lower jars into a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (see recipe above).