I love blackberries -picked wild, only available for a few weeks each year, elevating them in my book to the 'very,very, extra special' category of foods. This year there was a pretty good crop all round. I picked in Waterford and Dublin and despite Waterfords reputation as 'the sunny south east' the ones I picked in Dublin were huge! You can freeze them for tarts & pies or as I have now discovered you can sprinkle them with sugar and mix them with vodka to make a schnapps. I also had lots of fun styling and tasting the schnapps for my beautiful, talented, photographer extraordinaire, friend Aga who lead the shoot for this recipe. You can see her amazing work here.

Take

500g of fresh blackberries (pick through for small creatures)
300g sugar
700ml of vodka (cheap is perfectly good)

sprinkle the sugar over the berries & set aside for 24 hours
put into a suitable bottle/container and pour over the vodka
allow to ruminate for at least 2 months
serve over ice

Blackberry - Picking By Seamus Heaney