Thursday, January 17, 2013

Berries. Wonderful Berries

Time to make a berry pie! Yum!

Blackberry pie is one of my all time favorite things to make and eat. You can't have a bad day after treating yourself to a piece of pie. Especially a homemade one.
The crust is crispy, crunchy and fall apart melt in your mouth delicious. Blackberries aren't really in season anymore, but Costco seems to have palates of them.

This recipe is fairly easy to make and worthwhile for sure. I hope you will try it too!
You can make the berry mixture ahead of time and keep refrigerated and do the same with the dough as well.

1 bag of frozen blackberries
2 containers of fresh blackberries
3/4 C. granulated sugar (more or less depending on the sweetness of the berry)
1 T dried tapioca pearls
1 T of cornstarch
2 T water
2 T lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 teas grated nutmeg
1/2 teas kosher salt

Dump frozen blackberries into medium sized sauce pan with sugar, tapioca, salt, nutmeg, lemon zest and lemon juice. Cook over med high heat until sauce is boiling. Mix water and cornstarch and pour into boiling berry mixture and cook until thickened. Cool. Fold fresh blackberries into cooled mixture.

I  find that by using a mixture of frozen berries and fresh berries, it brings out the best flavor and texture to your pie.

Pie Crust


3 C. Flour
2 T Sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter (1 stick)
¼ C. Shortening
3 Tbsp  H2O
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp white distilled vinegar


1.       In a  large bowl combine flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry blended and working quickly to prevent butter from melting into flour, cut in butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (or put mixture in food processor and pulse until combined)

2.       In a small bowl combine water, egg, and vinegar. Stir to mix. With a fork, mix egg mixture into flour just until dough clumps together and moist enough to pat together. If dough is dry and crumbly, add more water 1 Tbsp at a time. Dough should not be wet or sticky. (I use the food processor and pulse until combined.)

3.    Wrap and place in fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

4.       Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll with pin to flatten

This makes enough for two single-crust pies.
Once you have your dough rested and your filling cooled you can fill and top your pie.Here I have cut out maple leaves, but you can use any cookie cutter you have, or go with the traditional lattice topping as well.
Pastry likes to stay cold before baked. So put the pie in the freezer for an hour or so before baking to get that great pie crust, if you can wait that long...
Brush with a whole beaten egg. Sprinkle with additional sugar and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for one hour or until golden and bubbly. Serve with vanilla icecream
Enjoy!
 
 

 

 






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