I’ve always loved a good bit of folklore and when I was down in Devon the other day I came across something I’d never heard before, so here’s some storytime for your day. We were on a coastal walk with some friends, winding our way through sandy dunes and forest paths, when we started walking past isles of blackberry bushes laden with tones of juicy fruit ripe for the plucking. My mum is a keen forager and at this time of year always carries bags and Tupperware on walks in case we pass anything edible that can be picked (if we hit Armageddon I’m sticking close to her!). So we pulled out the bags and started picking off the biggest blackberries we could find, eating a few, then bagging a few for later.

 Then, I can’t quite remember how, Simon began talking about the Devil spitting on blackberries and impending doom awaiting those who’d eat blackberries after 11th October, as you do. Being me I missed half the story through drifting in and out of the conversation, so when I got home I looked it up and to find out what the blazes he was on about. Apparently when Lucifer fell from heaven, on the 11th October (who knew!), he fell on a thorny blackberry bush. As a result he now spits on all the blackberries on 11th October and so anyone who eats them after this time is doomed . What a cheery story right?  You learn something new every day.

Luckily you have another week or so to forage for all the blackberries you can find and stuff them into as many pies, scones or tarts as you can before they get spat on by the devil! This pie is made up of a whole load of fruit we foraged for and just shows that pretty much anything can go in a pie (within reason – don’t go all Sweeney Tod on me). Here I’ve used apples, plums, damson and blackberries. I’ve also done a decorative top because I wanted to get a little creative, but you could also cover the whole thing in pastry to get the traditional look, or do something wacky yourself.

Recipe

Serves 12

Time: 1 hour, plus chilling time

Ingredients

For the pastry

• 340g Plain flour
• 150g Unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp Caster sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 3 tbsp Water

For the filling

• 1 Large cooking apple ( I used Bramley)
• 4 Plums
• A handful of Blackberries
• 6 Small damsons (or 2 more plums)
• 3 tsp Brown sugar
• 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp Ground ginger
• 1 tbsp Plain flour
• 1 tsp Cornflour

Method

1. Begin by making the pastry. Put the flour and butter into a large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Stir the sugar and the salt into the flour with a round bladed knife and then keep mixing as you add the water until a smooth dough forms. Bring the dough together with your hands to make a ball and then wrap the dough in cling film and leave in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile prepare the filling. Peel, core and dice the apple. Then de-stone and dice the plums and damsons into similarly sized chunks to the apples.
4. Put all the fruit into a large pan with the sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Place over a medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally until the fruit is starting to soften and let out its juices. Add the flour and the cornflour to the pan, stir to combine and then set aside to cool.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. When the pastry is ready take it out of the fridge and place on a lightly floured worktop. If you’re going to make a full pastry top cut the pastry into two, if not cut 1/3 of the pastry off and leave to one side for later. Shape the larger block of pastry into a ball and then roll it out into a circle slightly wider than the pie tin (so you’ll have some over hang).
6. Transfer the pastry disc into the pie tin, making sure it fits into any flutes or creases in the tin. Allow any excess pastry to hang over the edge for now. Pour the fruit filling into the pie and level it off so it’s an even layer.
7. Now shape the topping. For this pie I cut 4 pastry strips to make a small lattice on top and then cut out some leaves for the boarder, but you could shape the pastry for the top in any way you like. Alternatively you could roll out the pastry into a disc to cover the whole top like an original pie.
8. Once you’ve added any lids, pastry strips or the like, but before you add any decorations to the rim of the pie you’ll need to trim the excess pastry. Hold the pie in one hand and take a knife with the other. Cut around the edge of the pie at a 45˚ angle against the tin to cleanly cut off the excess.
9. When the pie is ready brush with the beaten egg or milk to glaze and then bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Serve with cream or custard!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x