War of The Handphone Desserts

Today, we have the showdown between handphone desserts....Blackberry Vs Apple. Well, actually, only one contestant showed up, ie, the Blackberry. But only because the spectators could not stomach BOTH blackberry AND apple in one sitting. Now that I think about it, Blackberry & Apple sounds like a divine combination. In any case, Apple on its own has been done to death.

I was inspired a few weeks back, by new culinary see foo, QUAYPOCOOKS, who showcased her Blackberry on facebook, and from then on, I knew I had to have it. Short of driving out immediately to the nearest supermarket in search of them, I exercised some restraint, and waited till my next outing to the wholesalers, before I finally settled on a box of 600gm frozen ones. They do freeze well you know. Just dont expect to receive any email while they're freezing.



Anyway, finally, opportunity presents itself, with some Value Talk Time, at family dinner, when I could introduce my latest err... creation. From the outside, it looks pretty enough, perfect, almost, ....


But oh my goodness, when I cut into it, did it bleed like any hot blooded human....juices of crimson red flowed everywhere, and this is what happens when you take shortcuts....

Here's the recipe I was meant to have followed.

However, being the lazy bum that I am, I cheated, Well, theoretically, I didn't cheat, but I actually did compare with another recipe, that stated that if using frozen blackberries, (probably Celcom plan), I was to thaw and pat them dry. Can you imagine me sitting around patting dry each individual berry? Even after a shower I don't bother...well, there are only two la, in that particular case....

So, here's what I did:

4 cups of blackberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup plain flour
Toss the above together, in one happy motion....in a bowl, or you'll get blackberries everywhere...
Pour into an unbaked pie crust, (without the top on, obviously - if you have to ASK for the recipe for pie crust, then you obviously aren't qualified to make this)

I grated the zest of one lemon, (isn't it cruel to take the zest out of anything...I hope the lemon didn't feel too sourly about it), dotted it with some cubes of butter, before laying on the top layer of pastry. You can do that lattice thingamajig, which actually, might have been a good idea, ...AIYO, as I type this, I remember now I didn't make any holes for the steam to evaporate, no wonder so much liquid...slappppp forehead and face palm....

Brush with egg wash, (that just means egg la), and bake in an 180 C oven for ...until its golden brown, like the color below. Ooops, above.

I served it with mascarporne cream. (Whip up 100gm of mascarporne with some sugar to taste, and some whipping cream)

Verdict - Actually, I love the tart taste of the tart...pie. whatever. The blackberries, which actually aren't black at all, what a misnomer, and false advertising, impart a lovely tangy but not too sour flavour, and though the liquid made it messy, it was delicious to eat..or rather, drink.

So, do try making it, but remember, pat your frozen berries dry, lovingly, or you might squash them to death, and, remember to put holes for the pie to let out steam. We all need holes to let out steam, what more a pie.

Happy Baking.