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.