Baking Elderberry and Apple Pies in Autumn

Why Elderberries Belong in an Autumn Pie

By late September the hedgerows are doing their last great flourish before the leaves drop, and the elder is usually the star of the show. Those drooping umbels of tiny, glossy, purple-black berries are one of the most generous free harvests in the British countryside — and one of the most rewarding things you can put in a pie.

Elderberries on their own are intense to the point of being difficult: tannic, faintly bitter, and with a flavour that sits somewhere between port, blackcurrant and something wilder altogether. Partnered with apples and a warm hand with the spice tin, they soften into a deeply fruity, wine-dark filling that no shop-bought pie can touch.

One rule before anything else: never eat elderberries raw. They must be cooked, and any green berries, stalks and leaves should be kept well away from the pan. Cooked properly, they are one of the great pleasures of the season.

Picking and Preparing Your Elderberries

Look for heads where every berry is fully dark — no red, no green, no milky unripe fruit hiding in the middle. Snip the whole heads into a bag rather than stripping them in the field; it saves stained fingers and bruised fruit.

Forage away from busy roadsides and spray-drifted field edges, ask permission on private land, and always leave at least half of what you find. The birds rely on that crop far more than we do.

Back in the kitchen, an hour in the freezer loosens the berries beautifully — shake the frozen heads over a bowl and most will drop free. Otherwise, run a fork down each stem. Then cook them before they go anywhere near pastry:

• Tip 500g of berries into a pan with 2 tablespoons of water.
• Simmer gently for 10–15 minutes until the berries collapse and release their juice.
• Push the lot through a sieve to remove pips and any stray stalk fragments.

You should end up with roughly 350–400ml of thick, glossy purée. Let it cool completely.

The Apple Half of the Equation

Apples give the filling body, sweetness and pectin, which helps everything set. Bramleys are ideal — sharp enough to balance the elderberry and willing to break down into a soft, spoonable texture.

Peel, core and roughly chop about 400g of Bramley into 1cm chunks, then cook them gently with 60g of light brown sugar, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, half a teaspoon of mixed spice, a good grating of nutmeg, a pinch of ground cloves, and the zest and juice of half a lemon. Eight to ten minutes should do it: tender but still holding its shape.

If you only have eaters to hand, use 500g, drop the sugar to 40g, and add a little extra lemon juice to keep the filling sharp. Tip the cooked apples into a sieve over a jug and save any syrup — it's wonderful stirred through porridge the next morning.

Shortcrust Pastry That Holds Its Own

A wet, dark fruit filling needs a sturdy case. This quantity lines a 23cm pie dish with enough left for a lid:

• 350g plain flour and a good pinch of salt
• 175g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 25g lard, if you keep it — it gives a shortness that resists the juices
• 2–3 tablespoons of iced water

Rub the fat into the flour until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs, then bring it together with the iced water, using a knife at first and your hands only at the end. Flatten into two discs, wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, fold the cooled elderberry purée through the cooked apples. Stir in two tablespoons of cornflour and two of caster sugar — cheap insurance against a soggy base.

Assembling and Baking

Roll out two-thirds of the pastry and line your buttered dish, leaving a little overhang. Pile in the filling and mound it slightly: fruit always shrinks as it cooks. Brush the rim with beaten egg, roll out the lid, and seal and crimp the edges firmly. Cut three or four steam vents in the top, then glaze with egg and scatter over a little demerara for crunch.

Bake at 200°C conventional (180°C fan) for 20 minutes, then drop to 170°C (150°C fan) for a further 30–35 minutes, until the pastry is a deep golden brown and dark juices bubble up through the vents. Tent the edges with foil if they colour too quickly.

Then the hardest part: let it rest for 30–40 minutes before cutting. Elderberry fillings firm up as they cool, and the slices will be far neater for the wait. Serve warm with clotted cream, or a jug of proper custard.

Preserving the Rest of the Haul

Elderberries rarely come in small quantities, and the surplus is a gift. An elderberry and apple jam is the obvious first stop: 1kg of berries, 500g of chopped Bramley, 1kg of preserving sugar and the juice of a lemon, simmered until it wrinkles on a chilled saucer, then potted into sterilised jars.

Beyond jam, the haul will happily become:

• Elderberry cordial, simmered with sugar and a few cloves, then bottled and diluted with hot water on cold evenings.
• Elderberry ketchup, spiced with ginger and vinegar — superb with game or sharp cheese.
• Purée frozen in 250ml tubs, ready to drop into crumbles and pies in January.
• Berries dried slowly on a tray for winter teas and infusions.

Make one pie now, put a few jars by, and you'll have the taste of the hedgerow with you long after the last leaf has fallen.