The Recipe

Serves 8 portions

Ingredients:

• For The Base
• 200g Digestive biscuits
• 100g Butter
• For The Jelly Filling
• 800g Blackberries
• 2 Lemons
• 6 Tablespoons white sugar
• 4 Tablespoons Cornflour (Cornstarch)
• Additionally
• Fresh cream or Creme Fraiche to serve

Method (video):

Method:

Melt the butter over a low heat - while it is melting, smash the biscuits into crumbs (either with the end of a rolling pin in a large bowl, or put them in a strong plastic bag and crush them with your hands).

Mix the biscuit crumbs and butter together, then press this mixture into the bottom of an 8 inch, loose-bottomed baking tin, then place this in the fridge for at least an hour to set solid.

Place the blackberries and the juice of the lemons in a saucepan and cook over a medium heat for 5 to ten minutes, until the fruit has released lots of juice, then strain this mixture through a sieve over a large bowl - use a large spoon to rub the fruit pulp through the sieve, then discard the seeds.

This should yield about 500ml of juice.  Return it to a clean pan, sweeten with the sugar (you may need more or less than stated here, so add a little at a time until it tastes sweet enough (but still with a bit of a sharp tang).

Mix the cornflour with enough water to make a pourable liquid.

Heat the sweetened juice until it starts to bubble, then, whisking rapidly with one hand, pour in some of the cornflour mixture until the juice thickens like custard (you may not need all of the cornflour mix - stop adding it when the mixture thickens).

When it first thickens, the mixture may be opaque and milky - heat it a little longer (30 seconds should do it), whisking vigorously until it turns darker and more transparent, then remove from the heat.

Allow the thickened juice to cool for at least half an hour, then pour it over the biscuit base, then return the tin to the fridge (make sure it's placed flat and level).  It will take several hours to set.

When the filling is completely set, remove from the tin - serve slices with cream, creme fraiche, ice cream or just on its own.