If you’ve been as obsessed with picking the glut of blackberries currently growing down country lanes as I have, these cute mini pies are the perfect way to use them up.
You will need:
– Helpful blackberry picking companions.
– A hatful of ripe blackberries.
– One or two scrumped apples.
– Honey and/or berry jam.
– Brown sugar.
– A sheet of filo pastry.
– Custard or double cream to serve.
Go on a lovely sunshiney Sunday walk and pick a bowful of blackberries. Don’t get stung by nettles.
Take them home, along with a few ripe apples that you definitely did not steal from anyone’s garden. Heat the oven to 150C. Cut the apples into small cubes, sling them into a small pan with a little water and cook until soft.
Add the blackberries to the apples and sweeten with three or four tablespoons of berry jam or honey, then sieve the mixture.
Cut your sheet of chilled filo pastry into six squares. Pop a spoonful of the berry mixture into the centre of each square and fold the corners of the pastry into the centre to form a dumpling.
When you’ve folded up six little parcels, sprinkle them with brown sugar, space them out evenly on a buttered baking sheet and pop them in the oven for half an hour, or until golden.
Don’t panic if juice runs out of the pies – keep them cooking until the pastry is cooked through, then serve hot with custard or cream.
