Sunday, May 15, 2011

Mulberry pie

I am sorry that I am leaving right as the mulberry trees are fruiting, the squash and tomatoes are blooming, and the potatoes are starting to put out new potatoes underground. Before I left, though, I did gather enough mulberries to make a pie.

Mulberry pie

1 batch Flaky Buttery Pie Crust

Filling:

3-4 cups mulberries, rinsed & drained.
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon (tsp) lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves

For brushing the top of the pie:
1 Tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon sugar

First, make the pie dough. If you keep any butter stored in the freezer, it is even more awesome for making the dough, as it cuts in just right for really flaky crust. Divide it into two balls, roughly equal (it's fine to have a slightly larger peice, as the bottom crust is bigger than the top anyway), and keep in the fridge for at least half an hour. When you put the dough in the fridge, also put a cutting board in the freezer - glass and marble are best. The colder you keep though dough when working it, the better.

Preheat oven to 400 F
Pull glass cutting board out of freezer, dust with flour. Pull 1/2 dough recipe out of fridge. Dust rolling pin with flour, roll out dough.
Roll out pie's bottom crust - the first time it'll be hard to work with. Gather it back into a ball, then roll it out a second time for proper workability & flakiness. Yes, you can roll it thin enough to be translucent, and yes, it'll still be awesome.
Drape pie crust in pie pan, gently poke it to conform, and fold the edges to cover all the metal. If extra hangs over, great.
Mix filling ingredients in a bowl until all flour and sugar is wet and clinging to mulberries. Using spatula, pour & scrape into pie, then level off top of filling.
Roll out rest of pie dough. Drape over pie filling, pinch & crimp the edges with the bottom crust to seal.
Cut slits for venting steam in pie crust. If you're really creative and have leftover dough scraps, form them into decorative designs, and brush lightly with milk to glue onto the top crust.
Brush crust with milk, then sprinkle on sugar.
Bake for 40 minutes.
Turn off oven, pull pie out. let cool at least 10 minutes. (Sugar stays scalding hot a long time.)

Best served warm with ice cream.

Hopefully, with this motivation, the guys will pick and freeze some mulberries so I can make more pies when I get back. I want to experiment with mulberry-apple pie next!

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