If I had a favourite month it would have to be September because summer isn’t quite over and some of the most delicious fresh fruit and veggies are abundant and at their best. We’ve been a bit busy this year to grow much ourselves, but I’m already thinking about what to start growing again.

This recipe uses two of my favourite Autumn fruits. I love going blackberry picking at this time of year – it takes me right back to summers at my grandma’s house walking along the country lanes selecting the juiciest fruits, and the delicious crumble that we would make with our harvest.

This is a simple dessert recipe that marries sweet, molassesy caramelised figs with tart, rich blackberries cooked with black tea to give a little more depth, and rounded off with some creamy mascarpone (shout out to Roz for the awesome idea to use mascarpone).

Ingredients

Makes 4 desserts

• 4 figs
• Punnet of blackberries
• 2-3 tbsp muscovado sugar
• 1 black teabag
• 200ml water (room temperature)
• Mascarpone
• Chopped pistachios

Method

1. The night before, cold brew the tea by placing teabag in the room temperature water and leave to stand overnight. This brings out all of the flavour of the black tea without any bitterness. If you haven’t don’t this the night before and need to crack on, then use boiling water instead and leave to brew without stirring for no more than 4 minutes.
2. Put the blackberries in a saucepan with 1tbsp sugar and 1/2 cup of the black tea (keep the rest in case you need to add more liquid). Cook on a low heat to soften the blackberries a little and to reduce the sauce.
3. Meanwhile, chop the figs into halves or quarters and sprinkle a generous amount of muscovado sugar over the top. I use a blow torch to caramelise the sugar so that the figs stay firmer and fresher and you get a nice crisp coating of sugar, but you could roast or grill them too you don’t mind them a bit softer.
4. Serve the figs and blackberries over some mascarpone (don’t scrimp guys!) and finish with a sprinkle of chopped pistachios for no other reason than it makes it as pretty as a picture!