WILD BERRY SWEETS | The most delicious autumn treats

This is my favourite time of year.

Still basking in the last lazy, hazy summer days, but there's a hint of autumn in the air. The light has that particular warm glow you only get now, the dahlias are at their most vibrant and blooming in abundance, thick droplets of morning dew glisten on delicate spider webs and the roses show up for one last hurrah.

And in the middle of these breathtaking colours, you find the dark purple tones of elderberries and wild blackberries. For this kind of haul of the sweetest, juiciest berries I'll even take the scratched arms. So so worth it!

My French grandmother (Provencal, to be more accurate) always made quince cheese in the autumn. It's a sweet, thick jelly made from the pulp of quince fruit and it's served as one of the 13 traditional Christmas desserts in Provence. If you want to try it, have a look here.

There's nothing better than a little kitchen experimenting, so I took that recipe and used blackberries and elderberries instead. What I ended up with were delicious little blackberry gummy-style sweets and elderberry roll-ups. There may or may not have been a snaccident...

Want to try making them?

For the Blackberry-Gummies (about 20 pieces, depending on how thick you make them) you'll need:

· 300g (10oz) Blackberries

· 100g (4oz) Pears, peeled and chopped

· 400g (14oz) Sugar

· Juice of one lemon

Prep time: 30-40 minutes, plus drying time (again, depends on the thickness).

Here's how

Bring the blackberries to a boil in a large saucepan with the pears and sugar. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, then add the lemon juice and stir. Blend the mixture in a food processor or blender (the longer you do this for, the less likely you are to get blackberry seeds that stubbornly stick in your teeth).

Pour the mixture onto either a baking tray lined with baking paper or into a tart dish or silicone mold. Smooth down the surface. The thinner you make it, the quicker it will dry and the sooner you'll be able to dig in. Make it a little bit thicker though and it'll be nice and juicy.

Leave to dry in a safe place, away from anybody with a sweet tooth (it could take about 2 weeks so there's a challenge...).

It helps to flip it over every now and then, which is why I'd recommend making lots of little bits instead of one big piece. If you're in more of a hurry, you can help it along in the oven at 50°C (125°F) until the surface feels dry and is relatively easy to flip over.

When it's ready, sprinkle the top with sugar (this will make it easier to work with) then cut it into squares, or use cookie cutters to cut out cute little shapes. Then sprinkle with sugar on all sides and you're done!

Elderberry Roll-ups

To make those, you first need to make some fruit leather. Isn't that the weirdest term? Doesn't sound particularly nice or appetizing, but I'm afraid it's all we've got. Apart from that, this recipe is very similar to the one above.

For approximately 10 roll-ups, you'll need:

· 300g (10oz) Elderberries

· 100g (4oz) Apples, peeled and chopped

· 200g (7oz) Gelling/Jam sugar

· 1 tsp citric acid

Prep time: 30 minutes, plus approx. 2 hours of drying time in the oven.

Just as for the blackberry gummy candies, boil the elderberries, apples, sugar and citric acid in a saucepan for 10 minutes. Then mix up in a blender and spread very thinly onto baking paper (approx. 2mm thick). Leave to dry. I like to dry it in the oven at 50°C (125°F) for around 2 hours.

When the surface is dry and 'gummy' to the touch, sprinkle a bit of sugar on top and roll it into a kind of roulade, then cut into pieces about 2cm in length. Arrange them so they look nice and then sprinkle a little more sugar on top.

Happy snacking!