Apple and Whitebeam Berry Pie

Apple and Whitebeam Berry Pie is a traditional British recipe (based on an Irish original using rowan berries) for a classic baked apple pie that's flavoured with wild Whitebeam berries. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Apple and Whitebeam Berry Pie.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

55 minutes

Total Time:

75 minutes

Serves:

8–10

Rating:

Tags : Wild Food Baking Recipes Irish Recipes

This is a traditional British recipe (based on a classic old-fashioned Irish recipe for an apple and rowan berry pie) that substitutes Whitebeam Berries for the rowan berries (they are related). According to tradition, Whitebeam berries should be picked when they are ripe, but after the first frost, or when they have 'bletted' (are beginning to rot). This is because the frost converts the potentially toxic presorbic acid in the fruit to benign sorbic acid. However, it's better by far to collect the fruit when they are ripe and then to freeze them at home. Of course, if you're cooking the berries you don't need to freeze them or to wait for them to begin rotting, but for maximal flavour it's best to pick the fruit and keep them in a cool, dry, place until they are almost at the point of rotting.

Ingredients:

enough sweet shortcrust pastry for a 22cm pie (base and lid)
4 cooking apples (eg Bramleys), cored and sliced
180g Whitebeam berries, picked over and stemmed
180g sugar
3 cloves
caster sugar to top
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water

Method:

Cut 2/3 of your pastry and roll out thin enough to cover the base and sides of your pie dish. Trim the edges then combine the apples, Whitebeam berries and sugar in a bowl. Turn into the pie shell then add the cloves and a sprinkling of caster sugar. Roll out the remaining pastry, use to top the pie and crimp the edges to seal.

Prick the top of the pie with a fork to make steam holes then brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle a little sugar over the top. Place in an oven pre-heated to 200°C and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 160°C and bake for a further 40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the pie is cooked through.