Candy Cane Vodka

Candy Cane Vodka

I'm going to a party on Christmas Eve and I wanted to take something new. Usually when I attend parties hosted by this particular friend I make vodka jellies but they're more of a summer treat than a festive one. Skittles vodka has been doing the rounds for a long time now so I figured that if that works, a candy cane one would too. 

The ingredients and method couldn't be more simple. You can make it in just a few minutes.

To make this festive tipple you will need vodka, candy canes and bottles. It's worth using a good quality vodka because this won't be something you drink with a mixer, it will be a shot. I'm using peppermint candy canes from Asda which cost £1 for 12, bottles from Lakeland which cost £2.99 each and hold 250ml and Grey Goose vodka. I don't how much the vodka cost because it was purchased from a duty free shop and was a gift. 

I decided to use one candy cane for each 250ml bottle. I put each one in a separate sandwich bag so I could ensure each bottle got exactly the same amount.

Bash each cane a few times to crush it.

Make sure the candy cane is really finely crushed so it dissolves easily in the vodka. After I'd bashed it a few times I rolled over it with the rolling pin to grind it up. You could also use a food processor to do this.

Poor the contents of each bag into a bottle.

Then pour in the vodka.

Give each bottle a quick shake to mix everything and you're done! 

Not all the crushed cane will dissolve straight away but that's fine, give it a couple of days and it will soon disappear. I checked on mine a couple of hours after I'd made it everything had mixed in beautifully. You can give it a taste and add more candy canes if you want. I think I prefer the square bottle as the vodka turns a lovely pale pink colour and this bottle shows it off more as the swing top has a slightly green tint to the glass. For presentation you can tie a candy cane onto the bottle with a ribbon or you could tie on a tag or even write directly on the bottle with a marker pen. This is sure to go down a treat with anyone you share it with and it makes a great home made gift. Next year everyone I know is getting sweetie flavoured vodka for their birthdays!

My Guide to Black Friday

If you know me 'in real life' or if you follow me on Twitter then you will know that for a week in November I become obsessed with Black Friday and to date I have a 100% success rate in grabbing deals. I've lost track of all the questions I've had on it so far this year and we're only halfway through Tuesday.

Black Friday is traditionally a sale that takes place in America on the Friday after Thanksgiving. People queue for days in advance outside Target, Best Buy and other stores to get the deals. Sometimes shops have a special freebie for the first 100 people through the door. This could be a free digital camera, extra discounts or another kind of incentive. If you've not witnessed the phenomenon of Black Friday in America then I urge you watch some videos on YouTube.

Black Friday in the UK first became popular in 2010. There were £50 Xbox and Wii consoles on Amazon but the deals weren't widely known about. In 2011 it was mainstream knowledge and this year it's even bigger. The general concept is this - Amazon will advertise a deal (I'll use a TV as an example) by saying that at 2pm a TV will go on sale. You can click on that TV, like you would on any other Amazon product, and you'll get all the item specifics such as size, brand, reviews and current price. What you won't be able to see is the price of the Black Friday deal. That will only be revealed at 2pm and on the Black Friday section of the site there will be a timer underneath the TV counting down until the deal goes live. When it hits 2pm the price will be revealed and a 'add to basket' button will appear. If you decide to go ahead with the purchase you have 15 minutes to check out otherwise you lose the TV. If you're not fast enough to click the 'add to basket' button you might see a 'join waiting list' button. If you click this you will be put in a queue and if a TV becomes available, ie if somebody doesn't check out before the 15 minute window, then you will be given the option of buying it. If you're on the waiting list for something you must stay by your computer because a little window will appear and you have only a couple of minutes to say yes or no and then you have to check out. Once a deal is live there will be a stock bar underneath the item showing you how much stock is left. The deals are live for a short period of time and is usually under 3 hours. After that they disappear.

Black Friday offers are called 'lightening deals' for a reason. They disappear faster than lightening. If you want something you have to be ready. It's no good having a casual look through the offers, seeing something you want that goes up at 1pm and then going off to walk the dog because if you come back at 1.15pm the item will probably be gone. If you really want something you have to be at your computer watching the timer go down with your hand on the mouse poised and ready to hit the buy button.

There is no rhyme or reason behind which items sell out and which items don't. Yesterday a £6 dry dog shampoo which had £1.05 off the usual Amazon price completely sold out in under 30 seconds whereas a Lego Star Wars kit which usually retails for £60 and was on sale for £20 didn't get above 20% of stock being purchased. Last year the Lego offers were gone in under a minute. You might think that the item you want isn't going to be popular and that you can get away with being a few minutes late but today a brown bamboo lamp sold out in 10 seconds so don't underestimate what people are after. There's also no way to know how much something will be discounted. Yesterday I bought a Moshi Monster talking plush toy for £7.99. It usually retails on Amazon for £16 so it was a 50% saving but today a friend asked me to keep an eye on the Just Dance 4 video game and the discount was only 33%.

Every day there will be a mixture of products but you can pretty much guarantee that there will always be watches, jewellery, video games, kids toys, blu-ray/dvd, electronics and clothing. The majority of deals will be advertised throughout the day but occasionally one will appear without warning so it's worth taking a scroll through all the items at least once an hour to make sure you haven't missed anything. Most of the items will have a picture and a link to the product page but a small percentage will be cryptic clues. Last year there was a clue about garlic bread and the item was a Peter Kay dvd. This year there are barely any mystery items so far but they are in there so keep an eye out.

If you see something you want, research it. If you're thinking of buying a new razor and you see that at 4pm one will go on sale, use the time in between to have a look at it. Find out what people think about it by reading the reviews, check what it is being sold for elsewhere and then make up your mind. Have a maximum price in your head and when it goes live if it's under your limit you can buy it.

Team up with friends if you have to. This year I have exchanged lists and maximum prices with a friend and we have the authority to purchase the products on behalf of each other if we see them. Each morning we will be having a look through the deals for the day and making a note of what we're interested in and the time it goes on sale and updating each other on what to look out for. If you know somebody who is desperate for an item, offer to watch it for them. Today there was a Lego Woody from Toy Story clock going on sale and I knew two people on Twitter who were trying to get it. Unfortunately neither of them got it but I did so I was able to pay for it on behalf of one of them, use their address for delivery and they sent the money over by PayPal. I did the same thing yesterday with some One Direction headphones and some earrings.

Try to ignore the negative naysayers. Every year folk bleat on about the deals being rubbish but that's only because they haven't seen something they want to buy. If you're a parent and your kid has asked for Lego and you manage to get it for £20 instead of £60 then that is obviously a good deal. If your girlfriend has asked for jewellery and you can get a necklace for half price then again, it's obviously a good deal. Nobody is forced into buying anything from Black Friday. If you don't like it, sit down and shut up.

So, in summary:

Look through the items before 8am each day to see what will be on offer.
Research any items you like the look of and decide a maximum price you're willing to pay.
Be at your computer before the sale countdown on your chosen item runs out.
Click the 'add to basket' button as quickly as you can.
Check out before your 15 minutes runs out.
If you're on a waiting list, do not leave your computer.
Refresh your browser and scroll through all deals at least once an hour.
Help your friends!

Good luck!

Recycling Beauty Boxes into Vintage Keepsakes

I've been receiving She Said Beauty boxes since April and I thought it would be a shame to throw the packaging away so I've been keeping them safe for Christmas. I've been decorating them using vintage images I've found online and the results have been wonderful. Each one is unique as no two are alike.

My first step was to find the pictures. I did an online image search of "vintage Christmas" and "Victorian Christmas". I pasted them all into a Publisher document, converted it to a PDF and printed them off. 

The second step was to cut the images out. There were 10 sheets of pictures for each box and to stop me getting in a muddle I kept the cut outs for each box in a plastic wallet.

When it was time to start decorating I gathered my small list of supplies; pva glue, paint brush, images and the box. 

I found it helpful to sort the pictures into sizes as it made things easier when decorating the boxes. I also put images I particularly liked at the top of the pile so they'd definitely be used.

The decorating was really simple. Using the brush I painted on some glue and put an image on top. I then went over the image with additional glue to smooth it out and get rid of any lumps and bumps.

Ensure your images go right into the corners and edges of the box.

I found it helpful for the images to slightly overlap in places and to go over the edges of the box, this ensures there are no bits that don't get covered and it also means the box has an even finish.

Don't worry if you get some wrinkles, you can smooth them out with additional glue when the first layer has dried slightly.

Getting a good layout can be tricky at times and I found it helpful to put the images on without any glue to see how they look next to each other and then I'd take a photo so I could refer to it.

Keep on gluing until you've covered the whole box. You'll have to take breaks so the glue can dry in places before moving on to the various sides of the box but eventually you'll have a box completely covered in vintage images.

We know how many goodies She Said Beauty pack into the boxes each month so you can fit a lot inside. I'm using them as Christmas presents that I'll be filling with all kinds of surprises. It's better than going into a shop and spending money on massed produced packaging. While I'm excitedly counting down the days to Christmas when I can give them to my friends I'm using them to store my ribbons, gift tags and other bits and pieces that I use for wrapping gifts.

In terms of monetary cost, these boxes are incredibly thrifty for something that is one of a kind. The glue was £1.50 and will be more than enough to do all 6 of the boxes I'm making, the paintbrush was £1 and the boxes were free. I printed the images at home but to try and put a cost on it, where I work charges 3 pence for each page of colour printing and there are 10 pages so that works out as only 30 pence per box. In total it will have cost me £4.30 for all 6 boxes - less than a pound each! Even if they were triple the cost it would still be worth it and your friends who receive one will know that you've taken the time and effort to hand craft them a one-off present.

Beauty Boxes - Are They Worth It?

I've been subscribing to beauty boxes for almost a year now and it's something that comes up all the time in conversation. I get asked about them a lot on Twitter because I always post excited tweets and pictures whenever one arrives or when I've found a new wonder product in a box. The general concept is that each month a box containing 5 beauty products is delivered to your door. The main question is always "Are they worth it". My only answer can be a resounding YES!

I originally subscribed to the Feel Unique beauty box back in December 2011 and I was thrilled when it arrived. It contained Tigi Bed Head Sugar Dust, a mini Nails Inc pink polish, Figs & Rouge lip balm, Clarisonic cleanser and Annik Goutal Mandagore perfume. There was also a bonus flyer with 3 tiny samples from a new beauty company in New Zealand. I felt it was a really good mix of products; hair, nails, lips, skin and scent. After that however things went a bit down hill for Feel Unique. My second box in January 2012 was very disappointing as it contained anti-aging cream, cleanser, a tiny face mask sample, shampoo for coloured hair, body lotion and a salt scrub so apart from the shampoo, which was useless for me since I don't dye my hair, all the products were for skin care. The third box arrived in February 2012 and was better as it introduced me to Nuxe oil which, when mixed with foundation, is simply life changing. I also got a huge bottle of Elemis hand wash as well as a hair elasticizer, nail polish, exfoliating cream and bonus sample of Jean Paul Gaultier's Kokorico for men. However, soon after the February box arrived the announcement came that Feel Unique would be discontinuing their beauty box.

I quickly subscribed to Carmine just in time to receive their February box. It was very different to Feel Unique as it was mainly make-up. I got an Andrea Fulerton nail polish, Daniel Sander eyeshadow, Frat Boy blusher and Diego Dalla Palma lipstick sample. Also included was some White Glo tooth paste and a bonus Yardley fragrance sample. I had mixed feeling about this box because whilst the nail polish was fantastic and I've gone on to buy other Andrea Fulerton products, the lipstick sample was completely useless. It was tiny, the wrong shade and the packaging wasn't robust so you couldn't have worn it for a day and carried it with you for reapplications. Then came the news that Carmine would also be discontinuing their beauty box.

I decided to give beauty boxes one more try and after researching both Glossybox and She Said Beauty I went with SSB. That's when everything changed.

Thanks to Carmine leaving it until mid-March to deliver the news that they wouldn't be sending out a box I missed the cut off point to get the SSB March box so I had to wait until April but it was worth it. My first box contained Mischa Barton lip tint, Filthy Gorgeous nail polish, Bella Pierre shimmer powder, Bharti Vyas face and neck polisher and a multi-pack of Comfort Zone samples. It also included a bonus pack of Erno Laszlo samples AND a Lindt chocolate egg. The Comfort Zone set of samples is one of my favourite things I've ever received in a beauty box. Inside a handbag shaped packet were generous samples of exfoliator, shower gel, body cream, remodeller, leg cream and tranquility cream. In March I went back to work after a break of 2.5 years so by the time this box came I was in need of a little TLC. The Comfort Zone pack covered all bases.

Since April I've looked forward to my SSB box coming through the door. The only product I've not been happy with was a Kim Kardashian perfume but that's more to do with the person than the product and it wasn't wasted because I was able to post to a friends sister who happens to be fan. A couple of months ago a nail polish wasn't included in my box and the customer service was second to none. SSB are on Twitter and always reply to any of your inquiries or comments and a new nail varnish was promptly delivered to me. The rapport they have with their customers is invaluable and I think they are leading the way when showing how having a social media team can benefit your business and keep customers happy and interested.

Each box always has a good mix of products, it's never too heavy on creams or make-up. SSB also send out beauty equipment - I've had eyelash curlers (amazing), the S shaped nail file by Tom from the Apprentice (also amazing) and blotter sheets (yes, you've guessed it - amazing).

Since April I've had a fabulous variety of goodies from tanning to vitamins, primer to nail wraps, cleansing oil to BB cream, false eyelashes to vegan lip whip. Brands have included St Tropez, Mischa Barton, Elemis, Vintage Cosmetics Company and Nails Inc. Each month you get your standard 5 items but SSB always include a 6th bonus item. There are at least 2 full sized products in your box (the photo I've used at the top of this blog is from the June box and has 4 full sized products) and the sample sizes are generous.

I've used most of the items I get but I have given a couple of things away. My mum is a sun worshiper so I gave her the tan accelerator cream that came in May's box as well the bronzer that came in the most recent one. I actually like being able to share things so I don't see this as a negative. The only item I've received since April that I haven't been able to use at all are the vitamins but that's only because they were green tea based and would interfere with my transplant medication but that information isn't in my online profile so SSB couldn't possibly have known about it. Everything else has fitted my beauty profile - no ghastly blue eyeshadow like the one my friend got in the August Glossybox. Despite being blonde and fair skinned she also got a dark brunette HD brows kit in the July Glossybox.

The SSB packaging is lovely too. The boxes are a soft shade of bluey-green, the padding inside the box is straw rather than shredded paper which I really appreciate and everything is wrapped up in pink tissue paper and tied with a ribbon. Beautiful.

The cost of beauty boxes varied in the beginning but they're all pretty much the same now. When I signed up to Feel Unique it was £10 including p&p but now all companies providing beauty boxes charge for p&p. She Said Beauty are the cheapest as they charge £9 per box with £2.95 for p&p making it £11.95 each month, Amarya charge £10 per box with £2.50 for p&p and Glossybox and JolieBox both charge £10 per box with £2.95 for p&p making them £12.95 each so they're all fairly evenly priced. There are discounts available for buying subscriptions in bulk too. The contents of every beauty box is worth a lot more than the price you pay for it. It's often at least double what you've spent, sometimes almost triple.

I don't wear a full face of make-up every day, I don't spend a fortune on the latest lotions and potions and I'm not an experienced beauty blogger. I'm just a normal girl who likes to pamper herself every once in a while and make the best of what I've got. I would wholeheartedly recommend beauty boxes to everyone because at a maximum cost of £12.95 they hardly break the bank. They're a wonderful little treat to look forward to each month and even if you do get something you don't particularly like you can share it with friends.

You can run but you can't hide

It's going to happen. No matter what you do, no matter how hard you protest, no matter how many tantrums you throw, no matter the lengths you go to in order to avoid talking about it. It is going to happen.

You can whine about it, you can cry about it, you can piss and moan and swear and stomp and stress about it but it won't change a thing. It is going to happen.

People will despair but it will still happen. People will lament but it will still happen. People will scowl but it will still happen.

It. Is. Going. To. Happen.

Christmas is coming and you can't stop it.

Every year around this time you get the usual crowd of grinches trying to halt the onset of the festivities. Like Christmas Canutes they attempt to stop the tides of time. United they may stand, grim resolution etched upon their determined faces as they chant "bah humbug" but united they will fall.

They will fall.

Instead of embracing the inevitable they begin an unwinnable battle. With a steely glint in their eyes they ignore each passing week. Their war cry can be heard across the land "It's not even December yet".

Some may relent slightly and give in to the temptation of a yuletide latte, others may be unable to resist the temptation of the lebkuchen that begins to appear on supermarket shelves but there will be no ground given in terms of presents or wrapping.

By the beginning of December the weakest troops will have given up their fight. Bullied into submission by partners wanting to get things planned, kids writing letters to Santa and the office elf bringing in mince pies.

Mid-December will arrive and by now only the strongest will remain. The decorations in every window and festive songs playing from every speaker in the land will have seen off the lesser scrooges but the crusade will continue for the hardened ebeneezers. THERE'S PLENTY OF TIME. NO I DON'T WANT A MINCE PIE. GET THAT TINSEL OFF MY DESK.

Soon enough it's Christmas Eve and thus begins the yearly defeat. Begrudgingly they traipse into town armed with pointy elbows, a snarl and a hopeless sense of misery. They'll have no idea what to buy, which shops are doing offers or how much things cost. Despite sharing the shopping battleground with their fellow cold hearted comrades there is no spirit of solidarity only a ruthless desperation to get things done. Buy the presents, get the wrapping paper, stop off at the butchers to beg for whatever they have left, resist the urge to murder the people hogging the cheese aisle at the supermarket, get home to wrap the gifts, remember you haven't bought sellotape, scream, head back out to find the only tape available is masking tape, buy it anyway, hastily scribble the gift tags, remember you haven't bought anything for your nephew, stick a tenner in a card, collapse exhausted, realise you've not finished everything, scream again, declare that you hate Christmas.

By this point the rest of us will be looking on with a sense of pity. We'll have thought of all the ideal presents to bring a huge smile to our loved ones faces and we'll have wrapped them all beautifully. Our fridges will be full to the brim of delicious treats, the veggies will be prepped, the turkey will be wrapped in bacon and we'll be sitting down relaxing with a Christmas tipple looking forward to waking up the next morning.

It's going to happen so do yourself a favour and accept this fact. There's nothing wrong with starting early. Save yourself the hassle of leaving everything to the last minute. You might find that you realise what you've been missing and that you actually love Christmas. Eliminate the stress, enjoy yourself.

Twitter Secret Santa

UPDATE! - The names have been drawn and I have sent you all direct messages with details of who you're buying for. Everyone's likes and dislikes are at the end of this blog. You do not have to buy something they have listed, the information is only there to give you an idea of the kind of things they like. The price guide is £5 excluding P&P. As somebody has already asked, if you want to spend more than £5 then you can but only if you're happy to.

What do people want to do about opening their presents? Do you want to open them as and when they arrive, do we want to wait until everyone is in receipt of their gifts and allocate a date to open them or do we want to wait until Christmas Day?

I will be organising a Twitter Secret Santa. This has come about after having the same discussion with three separate people and getting a bit caught up in the moment. Eek!

I will collate all the names of the participants by Thursday 15th November and will make the draw on Friday 16th November. I'm going to do it manually because I'm using an online draw for the Secret Santa I'm doing at work and it's proving to be a nightmare. You have to put in an email address for everyone and they have to click on a link to confirm they are joining. If even one person forgets to confirm then nobody can draw a name. Since I can't even get folk who sit three desks away from me to confirm I don't hold out much hope for hassling someone on the other side of the country. 

If you sign up you will have to give me a mailing address. This will be passed to one other person so they can post your present. It can be a home, work or PO Box address - whatever you prefer but if you're not comfortable with having 2 strangers knowing your address then please don't feel obliged to sign up. Your name would good to have as well although the postie will no doubt get a chuckle out of delivering a package to @MrsJustinBieberOMG.

The price limit on presents is £5 excluding P&P. Let's all try to be as creative as possible with the gifts - no cliched Dove and Lynx shower sets. Each person can give me a short list of particular likes and dislikes to aid their Santa if they wish. The post in December is erratic so I'm going to recommend we all post our gifts by Friday 14th December just to ensure it arrives safely. I would suggest getting proof of postage from the Post Office because if your gift doesn't show up to your intended recipient you will be named, shamed and *gasp* unfollowed. It's been suggested that in order to save on postage, if you're buying something online you could get it delivered directly to your assigned name rather than paying the P&P to your house and then reposting it to via Royal Mail. 

This is just a bit of fun, nothing to be taken too seriously. If you want to join in I will need you to do the following:

• Let me know you want to take part by tweeting me @romanyscarlett by midnight on Thursday 14th November. If you're a private account I won't see your tweet so I apologise if I don't pick up your participation request. I will be following everyone taking part (see the next point below) but I will also be listing all Santas in this blog so if you don't see your name, give me a nudge!
• You'll need to DM me your address so we'll have to be following each other. I will let you have your drawn name on Friday 15th November by DM. After that you're free to unfollow me if you wish - I won't take it personally!
• Tell me of any likes/dislikes you want your Santa to consider. This is optional, if you want a complete surprise then don't specify anything. The likes and dislikes are purely for information only, you don't have to buy somebody an item from their likes list - it's just to give you an idea about who you're buying for. 

I will send out a reminder to anyone who still needs to give me their address on Tuesday 12th November. If I don't have it by midnight on Thursday 14th then I will assume that you've changed your mind about participating. Listed below are all the participants, their likes/dislikes and confirmation of whether I've got their address. If you want to take part but your name is not on this list then please let me know. 

Any questions, leave a comment below or tweet me. Feel free to repost this or tell your followers. I'm using the hashtag #TwitterSecretSanta if you want to have a nosey at what other people are saying as the days go on. Since we started this project another group of people in America have attempted to hijack our hashtag (scandalous!) so try not to get confused. 

Current participants are as follows:

@scooshmeister - likes Spider-Man, comics, gadgets, gizmos, Lego - dislikes chocolate, small monkeys - address received

@lilliesandlove - likes cows, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis - dislikes nuts, spiders, shellfish - address received

@ogormless - likes true crime and cute boys, dislikes the Kardashians - address received

@rachel_2407 - likes girly stuff, animals, chocolates - dislikes sprouts, alcohol and nuts - address received

@phwoffy - likes cats, anything else with 4 legs, cake, chocolate, books, weird things that nobody can identify - dislikes peas - address received

@sophnina - likes owls and nail art - dislikes hair stuff - address received

@kerrieout - not an animal person - address received

@ianyorke - likes art, design, strange, quirky - dislikes pink, fluffy, common stuff - address received

@chellington24 - no dislikes, address received

@sammyislost - likes chocolate, useful things, photos, things for the house, about to have a baby boy - dislikes alcohol, sweets, books - address received

@romanyscarlett - likes Discworld, crafting and nail art - address received

@mitch_uk - likes geeky toys, gaming, comics - dislikes eggs, bananas, nuts - address received
@charleynew - likes sparkles, leopard print, dachshunds, owls, milk choc, nail stuff - dislikes orange flavour choc, jigsaws, cats - address received
@amyjayne - likes socks, Star Wars, dancing, gin, Downton Abbey, surprises - address received
@missliquorice - likes guinea pigs, yoga, home stuff, reading, nail art - dislikes liquorice, pink - address received
@xmjox - likes MMA, comics, gaming and gadgets - dislikes alcohol - address received
@sazzlejay - likes creatures (esp foxes & hedgehogs), cowboys/cowgirls, glitter, gloomy iconoclastic guitar based rock, poetry and Patagonia - address received
@beckycheeks - likes crafting, knitting, sewing, beads, nail art, food - address received
@ladykrw - likes milk/white choc, nuts, mint, owls, jewellery, accessories, Japanese, reading - dislikes, choc orange, liquorice, twilight, marmite - address received
@_MissH_x - likes green things, bracelets, scarves, stationery - address received
@___amy - likes tea, cake, anything cutesy and fun - address received
@jacquiesce - likes most things, dislikes nuts - address received

Blackberry Pastilles

Blackberry Pastilles

I've adapted this recipe from one I found in the Home Made Sweet Shop book. I had to make a few changes because I didn't have liquid pectin or liquid glucose and I wasn't convinced the recommended 800g of blackberries would give me enough juice. I've also used cup measurements rather than grams because the battery in my scales helpfully decided to die without warning. 

The ingredients you will need are as follows:

1,050g blackberries (I used 3 packs of 350g frozen blackberries from Asda)

2 1/2 cups preserving sugar (I used Silverspoon)

5 tblsp golden syrup (the original recipe asked for liquid glucose)

150ml water

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 sachet powdered pectin (I used Silverspoon again)

2 tsp lemon juice

100g granulated sugar for coating

The equipment you will need:

Clingfilm

15x15cm tin (I used my standard square brownie pan)

Sugar Thermometer 

Large saucepan

Two large glass bowls

Seive

Spatula

Large tupperware container

Chopping board

Sharp knife

Here comes the science.

1. Line your tin with clingfilm. I sprayed a few squirts of Frylight between the tin and film to help it stick.

 

2. Put your blackberries in the pan and heat gently for a few minutes without stirring. This will release the juices.

3. Put your sieve over a glass bowl and press the blackberries through the sieve so you get all the juice and can discard the pulp. You'll have to do this is stages because of the volume of berries.

4. Eventually you'll be left with a bowl full of juice. The original recipe said you should have 2 generous cups of puree from 800g of blackberries but I used 1,050g of blackberries to get the full 2 cups. It was more of a juice than a puree too, it was completely liquid. Mix in 1/4 cup of the preserving sugar and set aside until later.

5. Wash and dry your saucepan. Add the water, golden syrup, cream of tartar and the rest of the preserving sugar. Give it a quick mix. Try to ignore the resemblance to yellow snow (teehee!)

6. Put the sugar mixture onto a very low heat and stir gently until all the sugar has dissolved. This was the first time I've ever used preserving sugar and I was surprised at how long it took to fully dissolve. Once your mixture is no longer grainy, stop stirring completely and turn the heat up to medium. As soon as you start to see bubbles around the edges turn the heat up to high and boil until it reaches 130 degrees C. Do not stir!

7. This step runs almost concurrently to step 6. While you're boiling the sugar and waiting for it to reach 130 degrees C you can stir your sachet of pectin into the blackberry juice. I added my whole sachet at once which ended up being a nightmare as the powder clumped together forming hard to dissolve lumps. I almost missed the correct boiling point because I was distracted for so long. Next time I will add a little at a time and sprinkle it over the surface. I'll also be making a trip to Lakeland to buy some of their liquid pectin!

8. As soon as your sugar mixture is at 130 degrees C you can pour in your juice/pectin mix. Stir gently to combine and then leave it to boil back up to 103 degrees C. Now add the 2 tsps of lemon juice and continue boiling until you get to 106 degrees C. Then give it a little stir.

9. At this point the original recipe said to transfer it straight to your clingfilmed tin but I had a few lumps floating on the top of the mixture so I poured it through a sieve into a clean glass bowl. I'm glad I did this because as you can see below, the remnants left in the sieve are not pleasant!

10. Pour your sieved mixture into your tin and leave to set uncovered overnight. I noticed that as soon as I poured it into the tin the top started to solidify. 

11. Once your pastille block has set you can lift it up using the clingfilm and transfer it to a chopping board. Using a very sharp knife you can start to carve it into squares. Coat each square with the granulated sugar. Ensure your fingers are also coated in sugar as this will stop the pastilles sticking to you and breaking apart. 

12. Keep going.

13. Eventually you'll have a whole chopping board covered in sugar coated pastilles. 

14. Transfer your pastilles to an air tight container. I lined the bottom of the tub with clingfilm just to be on the safe side but I don't think this was actually necessary. I stacked half of the pastilles in a small glass bowl to take a photo and none of them stuck to each other. 

This recipe made 56 dice sized cubes. My tin has fluted sides and I had to cut the edges off to get proper cubes so if you didn't have to do that you could easily get another 7 squares. The original recipes suggests either cutting into squares or using a small cutter to create shapes such as hearts or stars. Personally I wouldn't like to use a cutter as the uncoated pastille is incredibly sticky and I think the shapes would break apart. 

I wouldn't say these pastilles were expensive but they weren't cheap either as the blackberries alone were £6 although if I'd been more prepared I could have picked some from the hedgerows. 

The pastilles are delicious but incredibly rich. You wouldn't be able to eat more than 2 in a row but that's not a bad thing as it means there are more to share around. They're wonderfully soft and the sugar gives them a bit of texture. They remind of those York Fruits but a bit softer and with a more intense flavour. 

You could easily adapt this recipe for any other berries as all you need is two generous cups of juice. I will absolutely be making strawberry versions next summer.