An Autumn Larder Worth Filling

There is a particular kind of abundance in a British autumn that catches you off guard. One week the hedgerows are a dull green, and the next they are heavy with blackberries while the ground beneath the apple trees is scattered with fruit the birds have half-pecked. It feels almost wasteful to let it rot where it falls — and it is. A few hours in the kitchen turns that glut into jars on the shelf, and there is no better feeling than opening a jar of your own chutney in February while the rain batters the window.

You do not need special equipment or a preserving pan handed down through generations. A heavy-based saucepan, a wooden spoon, some clean jars and a little patience will do it. What you do need is fruit at its best and a willingness to let time and sugar do the hard work.

Start with the Windfalls

Windfall apples are the backbone of the autumn preserving season, and they are quite free for the asking from any neighbour with a tree. Knock gently on doors along your street — most people are only too glad to see them go. Sort them carefully before you begin. Bruised and scabby fruit is perfectly fine; mouldy, mushy or worm-riddled fruit is not. A quick soak in salted water (a tablespoon of salt to a couple of litres) encourages any lurking creatures to vacate, then rinse well.

Peel, core and chop the apples roughly, dropping them into a bowl of lightly acidulated water to stop them browning. Although the chopping seems endless, the reward is a supply of fruit to be turned into chutney, cordial, purée for freezing, and jelly from the peelings and cores, which hold most of the natural pectin. Nothing need be thrown away.

A Slow-Cooked Apple and Blackberry Chutney

This is the recipe to make first, because it is forgiving, generous and improves with keeping. It makes roughly five to six jars of 300g each.

• 1.5kg prepared windfall apples, chopped
• 500g blackberries, rinsed and picked over
• 500g onions, finely chopped
• 300g raisins or sultanas
• 400g light muscovado sugar
• 500ml cider vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• Spices: a cinnamon stick, six cloves, a star anise and a teaspoon of allspice berries, tied in muslin

Put everything into your largest heavy-based pan and bring slowly to a simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Do not rush this stage — sugar that catches on the base will taint the whole batch. Once bubbling, reduce the heat and cook uncovered for one and a half to two hours, stirring every ten minutes or so and more frequently towards the end.

The chutney is ready when you can draw a wooden spoon through it and the base of the pan stays visible for a second or two, and when there is no watery liquid pooling at the edges. Fish out the spice bag. Pot into warm, sterilised jars while hot, seal, and leave somewhere cool and dark for at least four weeks before eating. It will keep for a year, and a spoonful alongside a sharp Cheddar or a cold pork pie is worth every minute of stirring.

Sloes, Sugar and a Cordial for the Winter

Sloes are the hedgerow fruit most people overlook, largely because they are almost unbearably astringent raw. Cooked with sugar, though, they give a deep, almond-edged flavour that makes a superb cordial — and the same fruit can later be used for sloe gin if you are so inclined. Wait until after the first frost, or freeze the berries for a night, to soften the skins.

For roughly a litre of cordial, take 700g sloes, 700g granulated sugar, 1.2 litres water and the juice of half a lemon. Tip the sloes into a pan and crush them lightly with a potato masher or the end of a rolling pin — you want them split, not pulverised. Add the water and simmer gently for twenty minutes until the fruit is soft and the liquid deeply coloured. Stir in the sugar off the heat until dissolved, then add the lemon juice.

Strain through a double layer of muslin suspended over a bowl, and leave it to drip for several hours without squeezing, which would cloud the cordial. Bottle in sterilised bottles and refrigerate. Dilute a tablespoon or two with hot water for a soothing winter drink, or with sparkling water and a slice of orange for something sharper. It keeps for three months in the fridge, or longer if you freeze it in smaller bottles.

Sterilising, Sealing and Storing

Everything hinges on clean jars, and this need not be a chore. Wash them in hot soapy water, rinse, then stand them upside down in a roasting tin and place in an oven at 140°C for fifteen minutes. Lids benefit from a dip in boiling water. Fill jars while both are still hot, leaving a centimetre of headroom, and seal immediately.

Label each jar with the contents and the date — you will be grateful for this come January. Store preserves somewhere cool, dark and dry, and check the seals after a week; any jar that has popped or smells off should be discarded. A well-stocked larder is one of the quiet pleasures of a British autumn, and it begins with a basket of windfalls and a free afternoon.