‘We battled bushes to win brambles for mum’s prize pudding’

This is a pudding mum would make for us through the autumn on our return from gathering brambles picked from the hedgerows in and around the village. The pudding was a prize earned for the scratches and general dishevelment resulting from battle with the bushes. If brambles, as wild blackberries were always known in Scotland, were plentiful, and survived scoffing by us hungry pickers, jars of bramble jelly were made and stored with all the other preserves, each label painted by Dad and guarded against an always ravenous brood.

Mum would hold back a few handfuls of brambles and gently fold them through lightly sweetened, gently whipped cream that was then spooned into a shallow dish, strewn with demerara sugar and placed under a hot grill until the sugar caramelised and ran through the gently melting cream. The dish was then cooled and popped into the fridge.

Should brambles prove scarce, raspberries are very good here.