A couple of weeks ago I shared a recipe called Hummingbird Cake. It’s a recipe from Southern Living. I discovered the recipe and I made the cake to see if it was as good as I’d heard. It was not only a beautiful cake, but tasted (as we in the South drawl it out - “De-vine.”
Since I had a good experience baking that cake, I researched interesting foods with “Birdie” names. When “Blackbird Pie” popped up in my thoughts, I Googled and lots of interesting things came up.
There are lots of nursery rhymes that are really weird, yet people wrote them for children! The true origin of most nursery rhymes are mostly unknown, but the majority have a British tone to them. “Sing A Song Of Sixpence '' is one of them. I bring this up because there is a “Blackbird” pie in the rhyme…”Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye; Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie; When the pie was opened, The birds began to sing; Was not that a dainty dish To set before the king?” Yes - a pie with live Blackbirds that sang! And the last line is the kicker that makes it even weirder - “The maid was in the garden, Hanging out the clothes; Along came a little Blackbird, And nipped off her nose.” Yes - let’s entertain our children with that little ditty.
There is also a real recipe for Blackbird pie that was in a cookbook in 1888 by Mrs De Salis - “Dressed Game And Poultry A La Mode”. And the recipe with the exception of the Blackbirds sounds as though it would be pretty tasty.
I finally found a Paula Deen recipe called Lattice-Top Blackberry Blackbird Pie. It is a tongue in cheek nod to a Blackbird Pie, but it’s a desert with no Blackbirds included. Since it’s a Paula Deen recipe, I felt pretty good trying it.
After a quick trip to the grocery store, I found that blackberries were in season and I began to make this pie.
Lattice-Top Blackberry Blackbird Pie By Paula Deen
1(2 crusts) homemade or store brought pie crust
6 c blackberries
1 c granulated sugar
¼ c cornstarch
2 T water
1 juiced & zested lemon
1 T quick cooking tapioca
2 T diced butter
1 lightly beaten egg w/1 T water for egg wash
1 decorative blackbird (optional)
Preheat oven 400. Baking time: about 45 minutes to 1 hour In a large bowl, toss together blackberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest & juice, water & tapioca. Let stand, tossing occasionally, 20 minutes. Roll out 1 crust a 14” round into a 9” pie plate trimming edges leaving ½” overhang. Refrigerate while rolling out the 2nd piece of dough to a 16” x 11” rectangle. Cut crosswise into 1 ¼” strips.
Spoon blackberry mixture into pie shell. Dot the top with the butter and then arrange the strips in a tight lattice pattern on top of filling and trim strips close to the pan edge. Roll up and crimp edges. Brush top & edge w/egg wash.
Place pie on baking sheet. Bake till bubbly. If the crust browns too quickly, cover w/aluminum foil & continue baking. Allow to cool - 20 minutes. Place black birds on top of pie before serving.
I don’t like seeds and blackberries have a lot! It turned out to be a full cup of just seeds! So I had to make some adjustments to this recipe. 1) I removed the seeds by using my potato masher & a sieve. 2) I added blueberries to have a berry texture 3) It was very juicy so, I increased the cornstarch to 1/2 cup and 3 T cooking tapioca and 4) I decided to leave making pies to someone who is a better cook - smile.
The good news is the warm pie with a scoop of ice cream or whip cream is quite tasty!
Finding the unusual is just another great way for me to “Look at the birds of the air…” Matthew 6:26. My photos are on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest “Birdie of Mississippi” E-mail: birdieofmississippi@gmail.com
