Blackberry Mint Julep Pie

April is Mint Julep Month in Louisville, though National Mint Julep Day is May 30th.  So I figured I would try to make a Mint Julep pie, then I took it a step further.  I attempted to macerate a pound of blackberries with two tablespoons of sugar overnight.  This process does not work nearly as well on whole blackberries as it does on cut strawberries.  Then I made a pastry cream with real mint and bourbon.  To assemble the pie, I blind-baked the crust, added the pastry cream, and then arranged the blackberries on top.  It made a very pretty pie.

However, the amount of pastry cream and the intense flavors were overwhelming.  It was very good, but three bites was enough.  I would reduce the pastry cream by half next time and perhaps try using mint extract instead of real mint.  The recipe for the Mint Julep pastry cream for next time would be:

5/8 cups of milk

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup of sugar

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons of bourbon

2 tablespoons of room temperature butter.

1/2 teaspoon of mint extract

Bring milk to a boil.  Mix together egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Slowly add milk to eggs mixture and add bourbon.  Return to sauce pan over medium heat and whisk until it thickens.  Remove from heat, stir in small pieces of butter and mint extract.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.

The pastry cream also was a little too heavy for the crust that I used, so it did not hold its back.  I would use a shortbread crust next time for a little added strength.

There are also two other completely different ways that I could try this pie.  One would be to cook the blackberries on top of the cream, which I think would enhance the sweetness and add to the overall blackberry flavor.  The other would be to make it like a bourbon pecan pie but use the blackberries instead of pecans and add a little mint extract.

Piece out!

Justin