Blackberries

I am always on the lookout for opportunities for the kids to grow or harvest their own food, then learn how to cook it themselves! This weekend we had a wonderful family reunion that coincided with a bumper blackberry crop along the edges of the bush reserves. We sent the young cousins out foraging with bowls amidst the briars and they returned with laden vessels, black stained fingers and just a few war wounds….

Take a few sheets of flaky pastry and lay on a lined oven tray, score a 2 cm boundary all around. Cover with a thickened creme patisserie within the margin (egg yolks, milk, vanilla beans and a little flour…) and overlay sliced apples (soaked in brown sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest for a few hours or overnight, then drained).

(Ok  I will admit to preparing the creme patisserie a little earlier that morning …. much as I would like to confess to training youngsters in the art of a non-curdling anglaise – we’re not quite there yet…!) 

Sprinkle over a generous helping of freshly picked blackberries (while eating a few) and then glaze the bare margin with a little beaten egg.

Bake in a hot oven till crisp and dark, then leave to cool. Enjoy with few extra fresh berries, cream on the side, and  congratulations to the kids for a job well done!

Based on the Apple Galette recipe by  Bourke Street bakery

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