Black Berry Balsamic Vinegar/glaze

I am still trying to find ways to use the blackberries so that I don’t waste them.  This black berry balsamic vinegar/glaze makes a lovely dressing for salad, is nice with game, or can be used to dip some crusty bread into.  It has almost a sweet and sour, blackberry flavour. We are adding it to our pickie lunches with salad, crackers and goats cheese.

Ingredients

500g of Blackberries

500ml of red wine vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar

150g of sugar (you can add up to 50g more if you want)

Method

1. Bring the blackberries and the vinegar to the boil.
2. Squish the blackberries with the back of a spoon.
3. Turn it off after about a minute of boiling.
4. Put the lid on the pan and allow it to infuse for 5 days to 10 days or put it into a glass dish with a lid on top.  It can be in a fridge or at room temperature.
5.  After 5 to 10 days bring the mixture to the boil again for a couple of minutes
6. Strain out the liquid and save.  I used a fine sieve with muslin in.  Squash the berries to get as much juice out as possible.
7. Put the liquid back into the pan and bring to a simmer.
8. Add the sugar.
9. Heat whilst stirring until it dissolves.
10. Boil the liquid again until it reduces to about a quarter.
11. Leave to cool.
12. Put the liquid into clean bottles.
13. Label the bottle

This is simple to make and is a lot cheaper than buying a black berry vinegar.  It also has no additives. If you do not want to use sugar you could use honey instead.   This amount made a medium bottle and a half.   I might make 3 small bottles for presents next time.  This should be kept at room temperature and I am reliably told that it will store for at least a year.