Harvest in July

Blackberries are ripe and ready to pick on Spring Mountain.

Wild blackberries like the ones that grow in the canyons, forest edges, and riparian area of Spring Mountain resemble the grapes from the appellation. They are small, naturally sweet and tart, high in pectin, black as ink, and intensely flavored. I pick them along York Creek where they grow thick and tangled with other riparian foliage amid aromas of bay, wild anise, and spice bush.

Wild berries are a bit of work to gather. They require care because they are tender and easily damaged, and you have to pick them without stem caps or hulls. Invariably I find myself facing the briar patch in shorts and a tee shirt. I tell myself, “This time I’ll be careful, but my arms and legs inevitably carry the telltale tracks left by the brambles.

No matter. Spring Mountain berries are worth the effort. They are wonderful tossed with sugar and allowed to marinate for a few minutes, maybe bathed in cold cream or with crème fraiche by their side. They are elegant and zesty in a fresh fruit tart. On a warm evening in July they make an intense and refreshing ice or sorbet.

But a couple times each summer you gotta have pie, and then only a flaky, two crust, bulging, dense, country blackberry pie will do. I’m talking about the kind of pie that takes you back into the wilderness at the end of a meal. Where tiny berries of purple and black are glazed their sweet thickened juice and held in crumbling, crunchy crust that melts in your mouth. All the pie needs is something made of cream at its side: whipped cream, sour cream, crème fraiche, or vanilla ice cream.

Spring Mountain Wild Blackberry Pie

A wild blackberry recipe must be simple. It would be a travesty to cover up the wonderful wild berry aroma with vanilla, cinnamon, or any spice. Similarly a blackberry or cassis liqueur which might be fine with store bought berries, are overkill on wild berries. Spring Mountain berries are naturally tart so they don’t need lemon juice, and they are high in pectin so you can take it easy on the thickening.

Recipe for a nine inch pie

First, make an all butter crust with a little sugar to make it melting and crunchy.

2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 sticks of unsalted butter (1 cup)
¼ to ½ cup ice water

Everyone has their own way of making a crust. I put the dry ingredients in bowl, toss in cold butter which I’ve cut into small pieces. Then I put the whole thing in the fridge to get cold. When I’m ready to start I put it all in a food processor and spin it into a coarse meal with quite a few pea sized pieces of butter. I dump it back in the bowl and toss it with a fork while slowly add the ice water. I stop adding water when I have a dough that holds together when pinched. Then I gently form it into two equal balls, careful not to knead the dough, wrap them in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge for at least an hour.

Six cups of wild black berries
1/3 cup flour
1 cup sugar

While the dough is resting, I get the berries ready to go. I first mix together the sugar and the flour. Then one cup at a time I measure out the berries into a large bowl sprinkling each cup of berries with a portion of the sugar/flour mixture. I toss it and let it marinate until I assemble the pie.

When I am ready to assemble, the dough comes out and I let it warm up for 20 minutes or so, so that it rolls easy. I’m good at rolling dough, but not so good at transferring dough to the pie pan, so I cheat and roll it out on a sheet of floured, heavy plastic film. The dough sticks to the film making it easy to flip onto the pan and then peel off the film. You know the rest. Butter the pie pan, bottom crust in, berries in, a couple piece of butter on the berries, the top crust on, seal around the edges, do your decorative thing around the outside, vent the top crust. And pop it into the middle of a hot (450 degree) oven.

15 minutes at 450 °F
30 minutes at 350 °F

Allow it to cool on a rack, serve it at room temperature with something from cream at it’s side and a decoration to remind you of the forest…like wild anise or mint.