I know a lady who lives near a bunch of wild blackberries. A few weeks ago I asked if they were ripe or when she thought they would be. She said she would keep an eye on them and let me know when they were ripe.
She called me Monday morning at 8am! (we had been up for a while) excited to tell me that she had been out walking her dog and the berries were ripe and looked wonderful.
We went that night for FHE!
They grow along the railroad tracks near her house. No need to worry about trains - the vines cover the track which has obviously not seen a train in a while.
They were also growing around and in some bamboo, which Natalie and the boys thought was really cool.
The boys legs weren't long enough to step over and on the thorny vines to get to the berries, so they stayed by the car.
The rest of us stretched and reached as far as we could for those beautiful berries!
With a few scratches and more mosquito bites than we care to mention (even with bug spray) we gathered enough berries to almost fill our large strawberry bucket.
Plenty for pie and some left over for jam (still have to make that!).
This was the first wild blackberry pie that I've made and it was SO good!
Blackberry pie is one of Robert's favorites, so I've made one before with berries from the store. This was so much better!I love the recipe I found - it has cinnamon and almond extract in it, which added such a nice flavor. I'll post the recipe at the end.
Tomorrow we are going raspberry picking - one of my all time favorite berries! especially for jam.
In a couple of weeks the blueberries will be ready - I have to pick my years supply of those!
Sum, sum, sum, sum, sum, sum, summertime!
Blackberry Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pie dough recipe for top and bottom crust (I used Pillsbury Pie Crust in the roll)
- 5-6 cups blackberries, rinsed, picked clean, patted dry (if you use frozen berries, defrost and drain them)
- 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet your berries are)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 Tbsp quick cooking instant tapioca (can usually find in the baking aisle of your local supermarket) (I didn't have any and substituted 1/3 c. flour - an amount I saw in a different recipe with the same berry/sugar proportions)
Method
1 Place blackberries, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, almond extract, and quick cooking instant tapioca in a large bowl. Gently fold the berries until they are all well coated with sugar. Let sit for 30 minutes.
2 Preheat oven to 400°F.
3 You should have two balls of pie dough, one for the bottom crust, one for the top crust. Roll out one of the balls of pie dough on a lightly floured surface to 12-inch diameter if you are using a 9-inch pie pan, or 13-inch diameter if you are using a 10-inch pan. Line the bottom of your pie pan with the dough. Chill in refrigerator while you roll out the bottom crust.
Roll out the second ball of pie dough for the top crust. If you would like to do a lattice top, cut the dough into strips.
OR
Unroll prepared crust into pie dish - you don't need to refrigerate.
4 Spoon the berry mixture into the dough-lined pie dish. For a lattice top, weave strips of pie dough over the top of the fruit-filled pie dish. For a solid top, place the second rolled-out pie dough crust on top of the pie. Press ends of strips into the rim of the bottom crust. Use scissors to trim the edges to 1/2-inch from the outer edge of the pie pan. Fold the edges back over themselves and use your fingers to crimp to seal the edges. If you are using a solid top crust, score the top with a sharp knife to create air vents for the steam to escape.
(I used a solid top since I used a prepared pie crust)
5 Place the pie on the middle rack of the oven. Put a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any juices that might bubble out of the pie while it's cooking. Bake the pie in two stages. First bake it at 400°F for 30 minutes. Then place a sheet of aluminum foil over the pie to protect the edges and tops from getting too burnt. (A pie protector is quite useful here.) Reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until crust has browned and filling is bubbly.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Cool completely before serving.
Yield: Makes 8 servings.
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