Sloe and windfall apple cheese is one of the most delicious and unusual accompaniments to traditional cheeses and a good complement to game. If you want to astound your friends with gifts from the hedgerow, you can’t go far wrong with sloes. Package the cheese up into jars, add a ribbon and deal them out. Or keep them in your larder for post-shoot game suppers. If you are feeling adventurous, try different shaped moulds.

The hedgerow is bursting with goodies at this time of year. So don’t go out with the dogs and come back empty handed. If you resisted making our elderflower cordial in the summer months, you will be being rewarded now with the berries. Try The Field’s elderberry sauce recipe for a great accompaniment to a game supper. And if you have a rather random hedgerow harvest, put it all in the maslin pan and make wild fruit jam. A generous dollop on freshly baked bread is a real British treat.

SLOE AND WINDFALL APPLE CHEESE

• 1.25kg (21⁄2lb) apples (a mixture of cookers and eaters)
• 275ml (1⁄2 pint) water
• 900g (2lb) sloes
• Sugar

To make sloe and windfall apple cheese, first cut up whole apples without peeling or coring them, and discard any bad bits. Put into preserving pan with water and simmer until the apples are soft and fluffy.

Next add sloes to the pan and simmer gently until soft.

Rub the fruit through a sieve and weigh the purée. Over a low heat stir in the sugar until it has dissolved completely. Allow 450g (1lb) sugar for an equal weight of purée.

Bring the purée and sugar to the boil and simmer, stirring well, until the mixture is thick (this will take about one hour). Pour into clean, hot jars, cover and store in cool, dark place.