One of my favourite discoveries since moving to the West Coast in 2015 is the abundance of blackberries. From walking paths to the side of busy roads, blackberries are a common sighting from June to August.  The best part? They are free for the taking.
That’s right — we essentially have our very own U-Pick farm in our own backyard for a few months each year. In fact, a gentleman I ran into this past weekend at Serpentine Fen (in South Surrey) was picking the berries for his wife to make homemade jam.

This marks the third season we’ve had the chance to enjoy the endless supply of blackberries and in the spirit of “do as the locals do” I have now taken to grabbing buckets and going on local “berry bushing” adventures with Janik and the kids. 
This recipe — a slight variation of our Raspberry Sorbet — was inspired by my determination to find a healthy way to savour the sweet, delicious flavour of seasonal blackberries and appease my kids, who have different ideas of “which berry is best”.

With my Thermomix this recipe takes under 2 minutes to make. Just four ingredients and 2 minutes later your Thermomix will chop and blend the fruit, and crush and blend the ice to create a delicious frozen treat you can feel good about. The neighbourhood kids actually come to our house asking if we’re having “ice cream” for dessert — if that’s not a win-win I don’t know what is!  

Enjoy! 

Ingredients

120 g cane sugar
1 lemon (peeled, white pith and seeds removed)
200 g blackberries (fresh) 
100 g blueberries (fresh) 
Note: Feel free to use frozen fruit instead. Allow the fruit to rest at room temperature 10-15 minutes before step 2.
750 to 1000 g ice cubes (crushed or whole)

Instructions

Step 1/Add sugar to TM bowl.Grind for 10 seconds/Speed 8. You now have powdered (icing) sugar. 

Step 2/Add lemon to the TM bowl. Use the weigh function to measure both types of berries.Chop 10 seconds/Speed 5.

Step 3/Add ice and blend 1 minute/Speed 9.
*Important: Don’t use the Measuring Cup (as you normally would) to cover the hole in the mixing bowl lid. Instead, insert the spatula and turn clock-wise during the duration of blending. Consider the spatula a mixing “aid” that enhances the performance of the Thermomix to blend. It is very important that you use the spatula only in this final step.

<<This recipe can be adapted to almost any fruit; our Raspberry Sorbet is another family favourite.>>

Note: This recipe was made using a Thermomix appliance, however it can easily be adapted using similar food prep tools (e.g. mutli-function processor, immersion blender etc) or using a more traditional stovetop method.

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