The satisfaction derived from growing your own fruit is matched only when you use said fruit in the kitchen! Roots chef, Jess Rose Young, recently whipped up some delicious recipes featuring fruit you can grow at home, including blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and figs. Enough from us, though, we know you want to get to the good stuff…

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• Blueberry, lemon and sumac compote
• Raspberry and thyme jam
• Blackberry ripple custard
• Fig, walnut and olive chutney
• Preserved lemons

Blueberry, lemon and sumac compote

Ingredients

• 500g blueberries
• 100g sugar
• 1 lemon
• 2 tsp sumac

Method

Wash the blueberries and add them to a heavy-based saucepan. Pour in the sugar and gently coat them, then allow to sit and macerate for 15 minutes to draw out some of the blueberry’s juices. Meanwhile, peel three strips of the lemon rind and add to the pan, then juice the lemon to add later. 

Gently heat the blueberries on the hob and allow the sugar to dissolve. Lightly crush the blueberries, trying to keep some whole while breaking others down. Once the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up and boil for 15 minutes, stirring frequently so it doesn’t catch. 

Take off the heat, add the sumac and half the lemon juice. Taste and add more juice if you want a sharper compote. Allow to cool and keep in an airtight container in the fridge for one week. Serve with your granola and yoghurt or on top of porridge. 

Alternatively, you can add the compote to a sterilised jar (whilst still hot) and it will keep for two to three months.

Raspberry and thyme jam

Ingredients

• 500g raspberries
• 500g jam sugar
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• Juice of half a lemon

Method

Before starting, sterilise a jam jar and put a small plate into the freezer. 

Place half the raspberries into a heavy-based saucepan and crush them with a potato masher (or use the back of a fork). Cook on a medium heat for five minutes. Pass the raspberries through a sieve and into a container. You should be left with a raspberry juice plus the pulp of the raspberries. 

Add pulp, juice and pectin (jam) sugar back into the pan. Allow the sugar to melt, then add the whole raspberries into the pan and boil on high for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, pick down your thyme and add to the pan once your jam is off the heat. 

To check the jam is set, put a small amount onto the plate from the freezer and allow to set for 10 seconds or so. Use your finger to push the jam - if it crinkles, then it's ready to come off the heat. If there are no crinkles yet, boil for another two minutes and test again. 

Pour the jam whilst still hot into sterilised jars and it will keep for six months.

Blackberry ripple custard

Ingredients

• 300ml double cream

• 375ml full fat milk 

• 30g caster sugar 

• 40g cornflour 

• 2 large egg yolks

• 1 egg 

• 1 punnet of blackberries

Method

Add the milk, half the sugar and half the double cream to a saucepan and bring to a gentle steam on a low heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve the sugar. 

Meanwhile, add the egg yolks, whole egg, cornflour and remaining sugar to a large mixing bowl and whisk for a couple minutes until smooth and slightly paler in colour. Once the mix is just steaming (you don’t want it to boil) pour ⅓ onto the egg mix and whisk. Add the remaining milk gradually, whisking to combine. 

Put the custard back onto the hob on a medium heat whilst continuously whisking. You will start to see lumps form, carry on whisking vigorously and your mix will turn into a smooth and thick custard. Once it’s thickened, be sure to cook it out on the hob for another minute so the cornflour cooks out completely. 

Take the custard off the heat and immediately whisk in the remaining 150ml double cream. Pour the mix into a bowl or Tupperware and cover the surface directly with cling film to stop a skin forming. Allow to cool completely in the fridge. 

In a bowl, break up the blackberries with the back of a fork then swirl these through the custard to create a ripple affect. Serve with fresh fruit or your favourite crumble.

Fig, walnut and olive chutney

Ingredients

• 1 white onion

• Sea salt 

• 8 figs 

• 150g walnuts, chopped 

• 200g green olives, chopped

• 50ml apple cider vinegar 

• 30g caster sugar 

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 star anise 

Method

Dice the onion and sweat down in a medium pan with a little salt and olive oil until soft and translucent. Cut your figs into a mix of quarters and eighths, add to the onion mix and cook for five minutes.

Add the bay leaf, star anise, chopped olives and walnuts, stir well and cook for a further 10 minutes. Add the vinegar and caster sugar then cook for another 5-10 minutes. The figs should have broken down slightly with some still holding their shape. 

Allow to cool completely before serving with a big chunk of sourdough and your favourite cheese.

Preserved lemons

Ingredients

• 6 large lemons 

• 150g rock salt 

• 30g caster sugar 

• 1 tbsp black peppercorns 

• 6 bay leaves

Method

First, top and tail the lemons then cut a cross through each end but only go a couple of centimetres down, you don’t want to cut through the whole lemon.

Put the lemons into a tray or Tupperware, mix the salt and sugar together to make the cure, then massage into the lemons, making sure to gently push the cure into the crosses. Once the lemons are completely covered, pop them into the fridge for 24 hours with a lid. 

The next day, take the lemons and put them into a sterilised jar so that they're quite compact. Fill the jar with any juice that has been extracted from the lemons overnight along with salt and sugar, peppercorns and bay. You want the lemons to be submerged in the juices. 

The lemons will need to cure in the fridge for two to three weeks. Rinse the lemons before using. Chop them into salads, couscous or stir into stews and tagines!