This one of my favourite times of the year when we pile the kids in the car and head east, over the hills to where the blackberries grow best. As this is now the third year in a row we have picked we've wised up a bit and know now that gumboots are the footwear of choice, jeans the best bottoms and a sun hat with a stupidly large and floppy brim the best thing to keep the sun from scorching ones face. In the past two weeks we've picked twice and have already squirreled away an impressive 8kg in the freezer. The goal is 20kg so we're off to a good start.
I think it’s safe to say that the annual blackberry pick has now become a firm family tradition. I find there’s a certain nostalgia to this humble pastime and I await the first day of picking each year with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas eve. I love the warmth of the summer sun on my back, the birds singing, the leaves in the trees above our heads gently rustling in the breeze. Most of all though I love being out in the countryside with the people I love best of all foraging for food that will fill our freezer to remind us of sunny summer days when the winter rain clouds gather and we huddle by the fire.
Seeing as the ground under our apple tree is already dotted with windfall apples I figured a blackberry and apple pie was in order. I don't make pies often as I feel they can be fiddly. This one however is quite the opposite. Both the dough and the filling are quick and easy to make and it all comes together easily. I can see this one becoming a firm family favourite. Be sure to use both the cooking apples and the eating apples for this recipe. The eating apples are first fried in butter and sugar to soften a little and even after the pie comes out of the oven they still hold their shape lending texture to the pie. The cooking apples however give and completely soften forming a soft filling to envelop the apple cubes. Best served straight from the oven with ice cream or cream.
Blackberry & Apple Pie
Serves 10
325g flour
4 tablespoons sugar
175g + 25g butter
6 tablespoons yoghurt
450g eating apples, peeled, cut into 1cm cubes
350g cooking apples, peeled, cut into 1cm cubes
2 cups/225g blackberries, fresh or frozen
1 tablespoon milk
Put the flour, 2 tablespoons of the sugar and a pinch of salt into a food processor and pulse to combine. Add 175g of the butter and process again until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the yoghurt and pulse again until just combined. Turn out onto a clean bench, shape into a disc, put into a plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC and put a pizza stone or baking sheet in the middle of the oven. Heat the remaining 25g butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and fry the eating apples for 5 minutes or until beginning to soften and any liquid has evaporated. Add the cooking apples and fry for a further 2 minutes before adding the blackberries and setting aside. Remove the pastry from the fridge and generously grease a 26cm pie tin. Divide the pastry into two making one half slightly bigger than the other. This will be the base. Roll out the pastry until it is 3-4mm thick and drap over the pie dish so that it lines the base and sides. Use a sharp knife to cut off any excess. Next roll out the top until it is just a little bigger than the diameter of the dish. Fill the shell with the blackberry and apple mixture, brush the edges of the pastry shell with milk (where the top will join with it), put on the top then using clean fingers push off the excess pastry, pushing down gently to seal the pie together. Decorate with remaining pastry if desired, brush with milk then bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.