Try this tasty seasonal dessert

With the warmest autumn we’ve had yet, a hot dessert may be the last sweet thing on anyone’s mind

One of the best things about autumn is the blackberries growing on the hedgerows just waiting to be picked and baked into a scrummy seasonal dessert. With the warmest autumn we've had yet, a hot dessert may be the last sweet thing on anyone's mind.

Blackberries needn't be reserved for crumbles and pies; use them to make light fruity mousses or this blackberry and geranium sorbet. Blackberry and geranium bond together wonderfully and this sorbet is the perfect complement to a warm, sunny autumnís day. If youíre not a fan of geranium and want to leave it out of the sorbet, use 200ml of freshly squeezed apple juice instead ñ it will taste just as delicious!

You can use frozen blackberries in this recipe too; just let them thaw before blending and then continue with the recipe.

500g blackberries

46 sweet geranium (such as lemon geranium) leaves torn

125g caster sugar

200ml water

Place the sugar in the saucepan with the water. Heat gently and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and simmer for five minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the torn geranium leaves. Leave to infuse for a few hours or preferably overnight.

Meanwhile, blitz the blackberries in an electric mixer or using a hand-held blender. Push the mixture through a nylon sieve into a bowl to remove the pips. Pour the geranium syrup through the sieve into the bowl with the blackberry puree. If using the apple juice instead of the geranium sorbet, mix in with the blackberry puree as soon as itís ready.

Churn the mixture in an ice-cream maker for 35 minutes, then transfer to a container and freeze until solid. This usually takes two or more hours. If you donít have an ice-cream maker, freeze the sorbet in a plastic container for one hour. By then it will have started to freeze around the edges.

Mash the sorbet up into the liquid centre with a fork and return to the freezer. Repeat every one to two hours until soft set and then freeze until solid.

Remove the sorbet from the freezer about 10 minutes before serving. Scoop into sundae glasses and scatter over some blackberries and sweet geranium leaves.