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In honor of the Irish folklore and tradition which surrounds the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, we make an annual blackberry dessert. Last year I made cobbler which you can find here, and if you'd like a full guide to celebrating this feast day you can find that here.
If you are here for the first time or have never heard the story, it goes like this.
It is said that when Satan was kicked out of Heaven that he landed in a blackberry patch! He returns every year to curse and spit on the fruit that he landed on, making them sour so they cannot be picked after the feast of Michaelmas.
This custom intriguingly springs forth from the natural cycles because blackberries are typically in season from May to September. To the delight of my wallet, blackberries were also on sale because of this reason, so we stocked up for the upcoming feast day.
Blackberry turnovers are on the menu this year and I chose them because it's inevitable that as we transition into Fall I crave pies. A turnover is technically made with a puff pastry but to make my feast day baking simpler I use store bought pie crust. Often when turnovers are made with pie crust they are then called "hand pies." My husband thinks they resemble one of his favorite Italian foods so in my house they are jokingly referred to as "fruit calzones."
This is all I can think of...
Tie up your apron and let's get started!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 17 minutes
Yields: 10 servings
Ingredients
2 and 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 lemon zested
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 store bought pie crusts
1 egg, whisked, for egg wash
Granulated sugar, for topping
Begin by preheating the oven to 400 degrees and take the pie crust out of the wrapper to sit on the counter until room temperature. While the oven is heating, place 2 1/2 cups blackberries, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 lemon fully zested, and 1 tbsp & 1 tsp cornstarch.
To release a little bit of the blackberry juice into the mixture, I lightly pressed on them with a fork. Don't mash them!
Mix these ingredients together and set them aside for 10 minutes while you prepare the pie crust.
Using a 4-5 inch bowl, cut out small circles in both pie crusts. You can use the scraps from both pie crusts to make a few more cut outs.
Spoon your blackberry mixture into the center of the small pie crust circles. Don't over do it or the blackberry juice will pour out making it hard to seal the edges.
Fold the crust in half and use your hands to press the edges together. Then use a fork to crimp the seal, and a knife to cut two small slits in the top so the steam can escape.
Place them on your lined baking sheet so that it looks like this!
Use your egg wash to brush the tops of each hand pie. If you want to add a splash of water into your egg wash you can do that too before brushing on.
Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve as is or with a scoop of ice cream and pray the St. Michael the Archangel prayer with me.
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.
Enjoying your blackberry turnover/ hand pie/ fruit calzone? Share it with me on social media or in the comments so that I can see it.
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