Today, September 29th, is Michalmas. For those of you not familiar with the holiday, it’s the feast day of St. Michael the Archangel. Michaelmas always comes after the Fall Equinox and the Holyrood Ember Days. This feast day is also, supposedly, the last day we should eat blackberries.
Why is that? Because, according to legend, on this day St, Michael–Heaven’s greatest angel–defeated the angel Lucifer. At the end of a great battle, St. Michael banished Lucifer from Heaven. When Lucifer fell into Hell–now as the devil–he landed, bottom first, onto a thorny blackberry bush. In anger, he spit and stomped on the bush, cursing its fruit. (It’s also possible he did other things to the poor bush, but I don’t want to be too graphic or gross.)
So some believe that it’s not a good idea to eat blackberries after Michaelmas as they’ll be too sour. Of course, blackberries naturally sour in late September due to the changing weather. And I’m sure it’s not a coincidence that today is also National Poisoned Blackberry Day.
When I was growing up, we celebrated this holiday every year. And we always made sure to pick all the blackberries from the bushes in our woods no later than September 28. Then, after church on September 29, we turned the berries into a pie in honor of St. Michael. Since it’s considered a feast day, we always added vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream. Below is the my favorite recipe for Michaelmas Blackberry Pie. I always make my own pie crusts, but you could use store-bought or frozen as well. For those interested in making their own, here is a link to my easy pie crust recipe: Butter Pie Crust.
I hope that you all have a wonderful Michaelmas and enjoy the last of the blackberries.
Blackberry Pie
Ingredients
- 6 cups fresh blackberries washed and dried
- ¾ cup granulated sugar plus more for sprinkling
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 6½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter cubed
- 1 double-crust pie dough
- 1 large egg beaten
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375℉.
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In a large blow, stir together the berries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and cornstarch until all the berries are coated.
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On a lightly floured counter, roll out one of the pie crusts into a 13" circle. Transfer the dough to a 9" round pie pan. Allow the excess dough to hang over the edge of the pan.
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Pour the berries into the pie pan. Dot the top of the berry filling with the cubed butter.
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Roll out the second pie crust into a 12" circle. Either cut a vent into the crust and place over the pie, or cut the dough into 1" wide strips. Arrange the strips in a lattice pattern over the berries. Crimp the excess dough (top and bottom) around the edges. Brush the dough lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
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Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is a light golden brown and the filling is bubbly. If you need to, shield the crust with tinfoil to prevent over-browning of the crust.
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Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
