When you find yourself in a field that’s almost completed fenced in by towering blackberry bushes loaded with fruit, you have to run and get a large container.

I know I go on about British fruit but I can honestly say that I’ve never seen so many blackberries in one location in my entire life – and they were perfectly ripe and smelled heavenly.

Scratched to pieces, with deep purple fingers and aching arms, I staggered back to the house barely able to carry the load.

As time was tight, most of them ended up in the freezer but I did make this lovely summer dessert for that evening’s meal, taking advantage of a small sun-warmed rosemary bush, just outside the kitchen door.

So simple and absolutely luscious with perfumed fruit.

Rosemary Scented Blackberry Fool

ROSEMARY SCENTED BLACKBERRY FOOL

(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

A sprig of fresh rosemary

1lb (approx 500g) of ripe blackberries

2 oz (56g) of fine white (caster) sugar

The juice of half a lemon and a good-sized piece of lemon zest with no white pith

11 fl oz (330ml) of heavy whipping (double) cream

7 oz (200ml) of Greek style low fat or fat-free yogurt

Action:

Put the sprig of rosemary, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar and all but 12 blackberries (set aside for decoration) in a large pan and bring it to a boil over a medium heat for a few minutes, until the blackberries have released a lot of lovely purple juice but haven’t quite fallen apart. Adjust the sugar to taste and allow it to cool, then remove the rosemary and lemon zest.

You can make this a day ahead – just cover and chill it in the fridge.

In a large bowl, whisk the cream to form soft peaks then fold in the yogurt. Once they’re well combined, fold in about a third of the blackberries and juice, just enough to create a marbled effect.

Divide the remaining blackberries and their juice among 4-6 pretty dessert glasses, top with the fruit-yogurt mixture and decorate with fresh blackberries. You can assemble these an hour or so ahead; just chill them in the fridge.