The wild black raspberries are getting ripe.
They grow wild on several of our farms. Since they’re wild the quantity and quality of berries depends on the amount of rain and sun we get during the spring. They’re small this year, but still reasonably juicy and sweet.
Spenser and Owen and I picked about 2 pounds this morning. Owen had a grand time, being very close to the ground he could jet around underneath the brambles.
I love black raspberries just to eat fresh, or to eat with milk and sugar for breakfast, or made into jam, or best of all: pie!
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We have these 6 inch pie pans that are ideal for making a pie for just Debbie and me. A single crust 9 inch crust recipe will make a double crust for these pans, and it holds about a third of a 9 inch pie, so it’s easy to cut down recipes to fit.
One 6 inch pie
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup black raspberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 T corn starch
dash allspice
dash salt
butter
Procedure
Heat the oven to 450.
While the oven is heating mix the berries, sugar, corn starch, allspice and salt together in a bowl. Depending on the sweetness of the berries and your taste, you may want to add more sugar.
Divide your favorite 9 inch single crust recipe into two balls and roll out to fit the 6 inch pie pan. I used Cooks Illustrated’s vodka pie crust recipe for this and it turned out pretty good. This recipe is available online, one place is here.
Put the bottom crust in the pan, then spoon the berries in. Top with pats of butter (a teaspoon or so will be plenty). Put the top crust on and cut slits in it.
If the oven isn’t preheated yet, put the pie into the refrigerator until it is.
Put the pie on a baking sheet and put it on a rack in the middle of the oven.
Cook for 10 minutes then drop the heat to 350.
Cook another 40-50 minutes. Check it occasionally to make sure it’s not getting too brown (I neglected this step as my picture shows). Cover it with foil if it getting darker than you like.
Allow to cool for at least an hour before eating.
Black raspberries are fiendishly difficult to cultivate around here, yet in a good year they’re abundant and free for the picking in the woods. A delicious treat between the strawberry and blueberry seasons.
Caveat lector. If you don’t like seeds in your fruit, these aren’t for you. In addition to being packed with rich flavor, they’re also packed with seeds.
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