Mulberries are one of the most bountiful fruits available to foragers. A delicious mulberry pie recipe, the filling barely holding its shape and staining everything it touches is one of the best things they can become. With their subtle taste of figs and rich purple color, this might be my all-time favorite berry pie. It's something everyone should try once.
What do Mulberries Taste Like?
Mulberry trees are in the Moraceae, meaning they're related to jack fruit as well as figs. I like to describe their flavor as "fig lite" and it's easy to taste similarities between the two. There can be some flavor differences between trees (white mulberries generally don't taste as good to me).
The delicate flavor and the ease of harvesting in quantity make them one of the greatest fruits for foragers. Morus alba (white mulberries) are also invasive in North America, so you can harvest as much as you like.
Below my friend Peter Erik and I gently shake the branches so the berries drop into a tarp. We got 15 lbs of fresh fruit like that.
How to Make Mulberry Pie
First you'll preheat the oven to 375 F. You'll need a pie crust, 5 cups of fresh mulberries, a lemon, white and brown sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla extract.
Like any other pie, you'll start by rolling out a pastry crust, laying it over the pie pan and trimming to make it fit.
For the pie filling, mix fresh mulberries with white and brown sugar, lemon zest and juice, cornstarch or flour, a pinch of cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla extract. I use a wild vanilla extract I make from Galium triflorum. Place the filling into the pie crust.
Finally the upper crust is rolled out and placed on top of the pie. You can leave it in one piece, or form a lattice if you want. The top crust is brushed with egg wash, and a cross or slits are cut in the center to let air escape.
If you use a pan like mine you'll want to use crust protectors or wrap aluminum foil around the edges. I like to sprinkle coarse sugar on the top before putting it in the oven.
Bake the pie for 45-60 minutes, or until the center is bubbling and the pie is golden brown. Make sure to put in on a low rack in the oven.
Let it rest and enjoy the aroma, then cut into slices and eat with whipped cream or scoops of vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of fresh mulberries.
More Wild Berries
- Wild Blueberry-Hazelnut Cake
- Fruit Scrap Vinegar
- Serviceberry-Maple Leather
- Wild Blueberries with Cream
Mulberry Pie
Equipment
- 1 9 inch pie pan
Ingredients
Mulberry Filling
- 5 cups fresh or frozen mulberries this is 1.5 lbs
- 1 splash vanilla extract (roughly 1 teaspoon)
- ¼ cup cornstarch or an equivalent, like acorn starch
- ½ cup brown sugar or substitute maple sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1.5 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- zest of half a lemon, grated
- 1 whole egg beaten very well without water, for brushing the crust
Pie Crust
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt omit this if you use salted butter
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter cold
- ½ cup full fat sour cream do not use low fat sour cream
Instructions
Crust
- Cut the butter into cubes and mix with the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Mush it together with your hands until the mixture looks like coarse meal.
- Mix in the sour cream in with a fork, then work with your hands to make a smooth dough.
- On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into two balls and flatten them into round disks. wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
Filling
- Look the mulberries over for twigs, bugs or debris. Toss the mulberries with the sugars, lemon zest and juice, vanilla, cinnamon and cornstarch.
- Roll out the bottom crust. Put the bottom crust in the pie plate. The crust should hang over the edges a bit. Put the mulberry mixture into the crust.
- Roll out the top pie crust and place on the top. Crimp the edges well, cut a few slits in the top crust for steam.
Baking
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Brush the top crust with the egg wash. Bake on a low rack of the oven for 45-60 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling in the center and the crust is golden brown.
- Allow the pie to cool for 20 minutes before serving, ideally removing it and letting it rest on a wire rack. From here the pie will last in the fridge for 5 days or can be stored on a counter loosely wrapped in cling film for 2-3 days.
- Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Elspeth
We have an Illinois Ever bearing mulberry that produces seemingly endless berries between June and August every year. Toward the tail end of their season this year, I tried this recipe using a mix of mulberries, blackberries, and blueberries—basically everything I’d picked from the yard that day. I’d agreed to donate a pie to a silent auction and the woman who I gave it to said it was one of the best she’s ever had. Thank you, Alan, for this fantastic Mulberry recipe! I will definitely be making it again.
(Oh, and I used acorn starch and it thickened beautifully!)
Alan Bergo
Thanks Elspeth. Love the improv here.