Wild Berries Recipes

A montage of beer, ice cream, cookies and sauces made from wild edible plants

This is the dessert section, although since my favorite dessert is simply wild berries and cream or berries and a simple syrup, there are more wild berries recipes than anything else on this page. I use syrups to make homemade sodas, sorbets, granitas or to flavor ice creams; they’re also great for glazing meats. You’ll also find dessert recipes for wild nuts and a few other random things, like liqueur recipes.

CREAMY THINGS

Wintergreen Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips

A cooling wintergreen ice cream made with fresh wintergreen berries, studded with bittersweet chocolate chips.

Fresh Mint Ice Cream

A mint ice cream made by steeping fresh mint leaves in cream overnight, giving the ice cream a fuller, more herby mint flavor you can’t get with extract.

Wild Ginger Ice Cream

Made with wild ginger, you’ll never taste anything quite like it.

Paw Paw Ice Cream

Paw paws are native to the Eastern third of the United States, and have a beguiling, sweet aroma and a rich custardy texture. They make a fine ice cream, too.

Black Walnut Ice Cream

This is the best black walnut ice cream you will ever have. I guarantee it. My recipe has a secret to it. Read on to find out what it is…

Pine Nut Ice Cream

Almost as good as the black walnut ice cream, pine nut ice cream tastes very Italian. Be sure to toast the pine nuts first.

Elderberry Ice Cream

I add a little creme fraiche to the ice cream to make it tangy. This recipe works well with salal berries, too.

Blackberry Panna Cotta

Kinda like a dessert version of a blended blackberry yogurt, only creamier and smoother. This works with any bramble fruit

BOOZE

How to Make Elderberry Wine

I’ve been making fruit wines for close to 20 years, and while my method is not simple, it produces a superior wine you can even give to snooty wine people!

Brewing Gruit and Other Herbal Beers

My thoughts on making beer with wild, native ingredients.

Junipine Wild Ale

A wild ale brewed with yeast from juniper berries and pine needles. Wonderful stuff!

Making Gose Beer

This is a light, slightly tangy and salty beer that is fantastic in summertime. Like a Michelada without adding anything.

Spruce or Fir Tip Beer

An old style of beer updated. Think of it as a really piney, amber IPA. A really good beer. Juicy, with a long finish.

Making Mirto, a Sardinian Liqueur

This is a Sardinian liqueur made from myrtle berries. It has a completely unique flavor I can’t get enough of.

Elderberry Liqueur

A standby in my house. It doubles as after-dinner drink and medicine to boost your immune system. Not bad, eh?

Elderflower Liqueur

This is a similar liqueur you make with the flowers from an elderberry bush. It does not keep as as the berry liqueur, however.

Elderflower Champagne

A lighter drink from elderflowers. You can make this like a beer, mead or simple cider. I go through all options here.

Harvesting the Red Huckleberry

How to find, collect and use the Pacific red huckleberry. Yeah, I’m yer huckleberry…

Chinese Plum Sauce with Wild Plums

A rich, tangy, spicy-sweet sauce made from wild plums. This is like Chinese BBQ sauce, only better. Slather it on anything, but it goes really well with duck.