For me, summer time means pie time. For others, it means cobbler time, and although I enjoy a good cobbler every now and again, I am way more into pie. (I do love Cobbler, I just reserve it for Spring or Fall, think Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler, Apple Cobbler, etc...).
First off, there are very few things that I hold on higher esteem than flaky pie crust. Maybe, I would have to put puppies + kittens before flaky pie crust, but when it comes to food, tender flaky pie crust just out of the oven is one magical little thing. Now combine that flaky buttery crust with your favorite juicy summer berry. Blueberry? Strawberry? Blackberry? What about Mulberry? Now hold onto your brains... what about a combination of all the berries?! done and done.
Mulberry's only came into my realm of knowledge a few years ago when our local foragers, Concrete Jungle, introduced me to their omnipresence here in Cabbagetown. Last year, I thought they were terrible, but this year I went out picking and was delighted to find that they were badass. Much sweeter than years past, which I assume is because we've had a much more consistent rainfall and temperature pattern this season, I picked and picked till I had enough cups to fill a 9 inch pie (about 7-8 cups).
I prepped my buttermilk pie crust, which was a nice change, but not enough to switch from the standard flaky dough. I washed my mulberries, tossed them with sugar, lime zest, and lime juice and then allowed them to macerate for about 30 minutes.
Buttermilk PIe Crust
8oz. cold unsalted butter (2 sticks)
12oz. cups all purpose flour (2.5 cups)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2-2/3 cup cold buttermilk (6-7oz.) depending on how your dough is coming together
1. cut butter into 1 inch uniform pieces and put in the freezer for 5 minutes. place measured buttermilk into the fridge to keep cold. sift flour and salt into a bowl and mix well.
2. i like to cut into my butter on a cold surface, not in a bowl. so i lay out the butter on my marble countertop, pour the flour/salt mix on top and cut using a pastry cutter till my pieces of butter resemble pea size pieces. (*a food processor will work (it's about 6 pulses) and cutting it in a bowl works just fine). once the butter and flour start to look nice and course, make a well in the middle of the dough, and slowly pour the buttermilk into the center. use a bench scraper and slowly start to bring the dough together into a shaggy ball. you might need more or less buttermilk than required. once it come together in a ball, divide into 2 discs and wrap in parchment or plastic wrap placing them in fridge for 1 hour.
3. after an hour, take the dough out and sprinkle you surface with plenty of flour. roll out bottom piece and lay into pan snipping the edges (it'll be about a 11-12 inch circle). pour the mulberry mix into the bottom and place in fridge. take the other ball and either roll like the first for a plain cover or get a little saucy and roll for lattice work. I like the Kitchn's how-to on lattice work. top your pie. I like to slip in a few dots of butter through the top then brush with egg wash and turbinado sugar.
4. bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes till the crust is nice and golden and the berries are bubbling.
We enjoyed our slices of pie with old friends on Lake Oconee alongside a scoop of fresh strawberry ice cream made by my life long best friend's mom. The pairing of the strawberry ice cream was pretty perfect because it made up for some of the sweetness that the mulberries just don't have. If I had to do over again, I would add blueberries or strawberries to it to give it a more versatile flavor. But we ate it with guests who remember mulberry pie growing up in the south as it was a fruit you could forage the crap out of. So I guess it all worked out ok.
Being the awesome photographer that I am, I ended up deleting all of my "eating the pie" pics so you'll just have to take my word that it was juicy and awesome.
So what's your favorite kind of pie?