Baby Salmonberries in Stanley Park
I was out for my regular morning walk in Stanley Park when I spotted the first signs of the coming crop of salmonberries. I have seen flowers for weeks now but this was the first of the berries. Now I am excited! I love salmonberries. They are fantastic as jam and baked into pies. For some reason you never see these in stores and most people thing they are blackberries. But they are not.
Salmonberries can be red/yellow/black and often on the same bush you will find all three colours ripe and ready to eat. In fact I often see people grabbing a quick snack of these wonderful berries. They do contain a lot of seeds, more so than blackberries. But seeds are healthy for you. Enjoy these berries when you come across them. They are all over Stanley Park and are the dominant berry you will find.
Salmonberries ripen before blackberries and will be in season from early or late may until June or even July. The blackberries will pick up when the salmonberries are gone. The main visual difference you can use to tell the bushes of berries apart is that salmonberry bushes thiner branches with fine thorns. Blackberry bushes have thicker branches and thorns that are more like rose bushes and can really cut you. Be carful!
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Scott’s Salmonberry Pie Recipe
- Pastry
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces cold butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cardamom spice
- 1/4 cup cold water
- Flour, for rolling
- Salmonberry filling:
- 4 cups Salmonberries
- Water
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- Topping:
- 1 pint whipping cream
- Mix the flour, butter, salt, and cardamom. Add water and mix until it becomes a ball. Be sure not to overmix.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Flour surface and rolling pin to roll pastry out on. Roll to about 1/4-inch. Place in a 9-inch pie dish and crimp the edges. Line crust with foil to maintain shape. Bake at 350-degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for another 5 minutes. Remove and let cool.
- To make the Salmonberry filling: Crush 2 cups of the Salmonberries through a sieve. This will take some time but it is essential to remove all of the seeds. Add water to Salmonberry juice to make 1 1/2 cups of liquid. Put the juice and water into a pan. Add sugar and salt.
- Mix the cornstarch and cardamom with some of the juice, then add it to the sieved berry mixture. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly for about 5 to10 minutes. Do not scorch. Remove from heat and let cool. Add remaining berries, stir and pour into the pre-baked shell. Chill pie until completely cold.
- Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Pipe or spread over the top of the pie and serve.
[GARD]