Fresh Wild Blackberry Pocket Pies

My friend Elizabeth from "Gossamer Wings" held a generous give away a few months back, and I was stunned to find out I was the winner. One of the items in the gift box was a clever Pocket Pie Mold from Williams-Sonoma !


The heart shape is especially appealing with cherry or red raspberry filling, but at this time of year the wild blackberry vines on the property are at their peak ~


Wild blackberry vines can grow like weeds here, and emerge from the earth in the most unlikely places.  However there are a few vines that are very special to me. 







Those are the ones which my late father lovingly cultivated and neatly trained along a split-rail fence at outside far edge of the lawn area. Fruit from those plants are my favorite of all.  Perhaps it's all in my imagination, but every year the berries from Dad's Vines seem sweeter and juicier than any others. 

I'm always reminded of my dad when we pick and eat the succulent berries from "his" vines during late summer and early fall each year.

The crop has been incredibly abundant this year, so I didn't have to think twice about the fruit I would use to fill the pocket pies this time.





The mold is an ingenious device combining pastry cutter, mold and crimping tool in one.

The method is easy ~ simply roll the pie dough out and cut the shapes with one side of the mold, then flip the mold over, and line the cupped side with the pastry cut-out, fill with your favorite pie filling, then place the second pastry cut-out over the fruit and press down to seal. Brush with egg wash or cream and sprinkle with sugar, if desired, then bake until the crust is done and the filling is bubbling.


Delightful!

I don't believe the heart shaped mold is available any longer, but look at this Apple-shaped mold with the leaf cut out! It's perfect for this time of year.

Photo credit: Williams-Sonoma

Photo credit: Williams-Sonoma

Available at Williams-Sonoma. (Click image above to learn more)

Of course, if you don't have the mold you could use cookie cutters or a knife to cut the dough to desired shape, and use a tiny cookie/aspic cutter, or knife to cut the decorative vent in the pastry ~ but the mold really speeds up the process and produces neat, uniform results every time.

Yum! Somehow the adorable shapes just seem to make the pocket pies taste even better. 

Thank you so much for your generousity Elizabeth!

And thank YOU, friends, for coming by to visit with me today.

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