What’s the first thing you remember baking? Something so nostalgic that you can’t separate the bake from the memories surrounding it. For me it is Mulberry Pie.
Growing up in Johannesburg come October the trees have turned purple. Not only from the jacarandas but also from the little mulberries that dot the greenest of trees. For so many countries the colour of October is orange. But for South Africans living in Johannesburg, it has to be purple.
As you travel through the suburbs the streets are layered in a purple carpet of jacaranda flowers. I look forward to this sight every year. Anyone lucky enough to visit South Africa during this time should keep an eye out for the roads arched with jacaranda trees coloured lilac.
If the colour of October is purple then the taste of the month has to be homemade Mulberry Pie.
In my youth October was about trading silkworms and running around the garden trying not to step on bees while blackening our feet with the ripe mulberries that had fallen. Picking mulberries either meant eating them straight from the garden or collecting just enough to bake a mulberry pie.
My mom taught me to make mulberry pie. She used to make it with a German pastry crust from a book so old the binding was falling apart. The best kind of books in my opinion.
Since those carefree days; mulberry pie, berry blacken feet and silkworms have taken a bit of a side line. I suppose when life gets busy you stop looking deeply at the changing seasons, the colours and the magic in your backyard.
2020 has been a year of slowing down for many people, myself included. A chance to sit and sip coffee in my garden, walk around without rushing to head off somewhere else and a chance to again notice the changing of the seasons.
This has been the first year of my adult life where I’ve actually noticed the jacarandas forming and then blooming. A year that I noticed the little mulberries growing and changing from green, to pink, to violet. And the first year in a very long time that I picked these purple jewels and made them into a mulberry pie.
I’ve made some changes to the original way we used to bake this mulberry pie. I have added blueberries to the recipe for a little sweetness and I’ve also latticed the pastry top. Mainly because I’ve just always wanted to do this! You could give this a try or simply grate the pastry onto the filling like we used to when growing up.
I like letting the mulberry pie cool down to room temperature before cutting it into slices. This allows the filling to set so that perfect slices are cut are served.
Vanilla bean ice-cream is a family favourite when it comes to serving slices of mulberry pie. But you could try it with some pouring cream or mascarpone.
If it’s not October or you’ve never even heard of a mulberry this recipe can be made with fresh blueberries or blackberries.
📖 Recipe
Mulberry Pie
Equipment
- 24cm loose bottom tart tin
Ingredients
Pastry
- 170 grams unsalted butter
- 150 grams castor sugar
- 375 grams flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Mulberry Filling
- 550 grams mulberries
- 500 grams blueberries
- ½ cup castor sugar
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoon cornflour
- 2 tablespoon cold water
Instructions
- To prepare the pastry, sift the flour, sugar and salt together into a large bowl.
- Cube the cold butter and add this to the sieved ingredients.
- Use your finger tips to crumble the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
- Crack the eggs into a glass and lightly beat with the vanilla extract.
- Make a well in the centre of the mixture and the eggs and vanilla mixture into the well.
- Using a swirling motion with your fingers, help the butter and flour mixture incorporate into the eggs. Slowly bringing more of the butter and flour mixture into the wet ingredients, continue doing this until a dough is formed. Do not overwork the dough.
- Once the dough is formed, cover in plastic wrap and allow to chill in the fridge for one hour.
The Filling
- Ensure you have trimmed the stalks off of the mulberries, and washed them well.
- Place the mulberries, castor sugar and lemon juice into a medium sized pan over medium to high heat.
- Allow the sugar to melt and the berries to start releasing their juices.
- Meanwhile combine the cornflour and water and stir to dissolve.
- Once the sugar has melted add the cornflour mixture to the mulberries and cook until the berries begin to thicken, this should take about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
- Add the fresh uncooked blueberries to the cooled mulberry mixture and set aside.
Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Brush the tart tin with a little melted butter to ensure the pie doesn't stick.
- Remove the chilled pastry from the fridge and dust with flour on both sides.
- Roll out the pastry into a circular shape a little bigger than the size of your pie/ tart tin. Ensure that it has even thickness of about 3mm throughout.
- With the aid of your rolling pin, lift the pastry into the tart tin and use your finger tips to lightly press into shape.
- Place the pastry lined tart tin in the fridge while you prepare the lattice top.
- With the remainder of your pastry dough measure out strips for your lattice of about 2cm wide. You will need about 10 to 14 strips depending on how much or how little filling you'd like to show through. Spend some time making extra decorations like flowers, leaves or strips of plaited dough to cover the circumference of the pie dish.
- Remove your tart tin from the fridge and fill the dish with the cooled berry filling.
- Use your prepared pastry to lattice and decorate your mulberry pie.
- Bake in the oven for about 40min or until gold brown.
- Once cooked, allow to cool to room temperature before slicing.
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