Mulberry Pie

Mulberries are one of my favorite fruits found on local trees (alongside pawpaws!) I grew up with a few of them in the yard. I would always pick a few as I passed under them on the riding lawn mower! I had a lot of time to invent little games to keep the 4+ hour mowing job that that was semi-interesting for myself.

Luckily, my neighbor here in Marlborough (East Waldo) has a  mulberry tree on our shared property line! So in the summer when the berries are ripe and dropping, I lay out a tarp under the tree and collect only the perfectly black, ripe ones in the morning and toss the rest to reset the tarp. Although you do not have to, I like to remove the green stems by pinching them off between my fingernails. It's great to use the berries fresh, but I get a lot so I freeze what I can't practically use for a later taste of summer. To do this, lay the berries single-layer across a cookie sheet freeze. I do NOT recommend washing before freezing to help prevent clumping and to preserve the berries in as perfect condition as possible. After the berries are frozen on the cookie sheet, scrape them into a freezer container (or bag) and keep until needed, remembering to rinse them after they're pulled out.

Mulberry Pie
from Yummly

Ingredients:
4 cups (1 qt.) mulberries, rinsed
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 egg
double crust pastry

Optional:
- 1 Tbsp. demerara sugar for dusting top of pie lattice

Instructions:
1. In a bowl, combine berries, sugar, and flour until berries are evenly coated. Set aside while crust is blind-baking.
2. Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
3. Pour in berry mixture into prepared crust. With second crust, arrange a lattice top to the pie.
4. In a small bowl, whisk well the egg and 1 Tbsp. water. Brush egg wash across top of pie. Sprinkle demerara sugar on top, if using.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce oven to 350 F and bake for 45 more minutes.
6. Cool pie completely before slicing.