Mulberry Pie

This recipe means a lot to me. It was the first recipe I ever stole whilst in the middle of a hunt.

I broke into the house through the back bathroom window; no one was home so I waited in the cellar. They came home; I heard them moving around the house. After an hour or two an aroma wafted down the stairs. I could smell it fresh out of the oven. My mouth salivated while I waited. For the food and for the hunt. I had planned to wait until dark, but the smell of the pie cooling was too much for me.

I silently crept up the stairs. I had corked the door latch when I entered so that I could reopen it without a sound and out I slid into the hall. The man was watching television. He heard nothing. My knife was clipped to my thigh. He felt nothing as I ran it along his throat. Don’t believe what they show you on television, blood doesn’t spurt out everywhere, it just pours out till it finds a place to pool. His head slumped after that, nothing more.
I like the feel of it on my hands, sticky and warm and the smell. Smooth between my fingers.

I grabbed a cushion from the couch and headed to the kid’s room and I tucked them in nice and tight, like sleeping angels. That smell was in the kid’s room too. How anyone could retain their sanity with that sweet scent teasing them is beyond me. I went to the kitchen. She was in there, she saw me, saw the knife, saw the blood and screamed. I don’t understand why people scream. It’s not an involuntary response but I suppose given a lesser threat might have run away in fear. I took her by the ponytail as she tried to flee. I let her scream. Scream until she was all screamed out and limp in my grasp.

“The recipe!”

She ignored me so I shook her; she flailed about like a rag doll.

“The recipe for the pie. Give it me!”

She pointed to a benchtop and sure enough there it lay, scrawled on some butchers paper and stained with different ingredients from years of use.  I put my knife down to pick it up. I scrunched it and put it in my pocket and then I saw the pie. It was sitting by the window, steam still rising from it. It was intoxicating. The sweet smell mixing with the scent of blood already on my knife. I could practically taste it.

The woman started to struggle again and I remembered she was there. I stabbed her in the stomach; she fought it and died slow. Blood did fly this time, it even flew onto the cooling mulberry pie. When she stopped fighting I released her and fell to the floor. Free.

I took the pie, blood and all it was delightful.

Mulberry Pie

Ingredients

Pie dough for top and bottom 20 cm pie, chilled
2/3 cup to 3/4 cup (130 to 150 grams) granulated sugar, adjusted according to the sweetness of berries
1/4 cup (30 grams) corn starch
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg yolk
2 pounds (900 grams) fresh mulberries (about 6 cups) don’t get on your clothes.
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small squares
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon coarse sugar, for garnish

Fresh blood from screaming woman (optional)

Pie Base

Roll out just over half of the pie dough to fit a 20 – 21cm pie dish. Roll from the centre of the dough outwards and keep lifting up and turning the dough a quarter turn as you roll. This will ensure an even base and stop it from sticking

Check for the correct size by flipping the pie dish and putting the dough over it. The dough should be about 5 cm larger than the dish.

Don’t stretch the dough, fit gently into the pie dish then trim to within 2 cm of the edge of the dish. Refrigerate.

Filling

Stir sugar, corn starch, lemon peel, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add mulberries and gently toss to combine. Transfer the mulberry filling to the prepared pie crust. Refrigerate while you ready the crust.

Crust

Roll out the second half of dough to a similar size as before. Lay it out over the pie and decorate as you see fit.

Trim dough to 8 cm of the edge of the dish. Fold edges of strips and bottom dough underneath itself, creating a thicker border that rests on the lip of the dish. Crimp edges.

Make egg wash by whisking egg yolk and cream together then brush over pie dough. Sprinkle a tablespoon of coarse sugar over crust. Refrigerate pie 20 minutes or freeze for 5 minutes before baking.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F or 200 C. Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven then place a baking sheet on rack.

Bake chilled pie on hot baking sheet for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees F or 170 C then continue to bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the crust is golden and juices in the filling are bubbling eagerly. If, while baking, the crust begins to brown too much, cover with aluminium foil and continue to bake until done.

Cool 2 to 3 hours before cutting to allow the filling to set. Splatter lightly with fresh blood from a screaming woman.

Thank you to https://www.inspiredtaste.net/23159/homemade-blueberry-pie-recipe/ for the original recipe which I have been altered. If anyone bakes this, let me know how it goes.