Beautiful And Tasty Blackberry Pie Recipe

Yes my friends, it's time for blackberries. The season is here, the berries are ripe and prepared for selecting. Blackberries grow wild here along the American River, and practically around all the creeks and streams in California. Heck, they even grow wild in empty lots and overlooked backyards in San Francisco. Hank, I, and our buddy and fellow food blog writer Amber went berry picking at the river today and brought home a couple pounds of fresh, ripe, juicy berries, best for a pie. And a best pie it is, or was.

 It didn't last long. Honestly I believe it was one of the best pies I've ever made, which's saying something, because I prefer to make pie. The filling held together (immediate tapioca is an excellent thickener), the additions of lemon, cinnamon, and almond extract just intensified and improved the blackberry flavor. And the crust? Well, in my opinion, homemade pie is just an excuse to consume homemade butter crust.

Not everybody has access to wild blackberries. If that's you, you can easily use market berries or frozen berries. Trader Joe's brings a good quality bag of frozen mixed berries that would work completely well with this pie. If you do have a blackberry bush close by, choose only the berries that are all black, or deeply purple. If the berry still has red in it, it's not ripe and will be unpleasantly tart. A really ripe berry should be simple to choose.

You shouldn't need to pull on it too much to get it off of the vine. Use long pants and a long sleeved t-shirt for picking, the thicker the cloth the better, as you'll need protection from the berry plant's lots of many (ouch) thorns. Put the berries in a container or thick plastic bag. The juice from the berries will go through any paper bag.

Tasty Blackberry Pie Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pie dough recipe for top and bottom crust
• 5-6 cups blackberries, rinsed, chose clean, patted dry (if you used frozen berries, defrost and drain them).
• 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet your berries are).
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest.
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.
• 3 Tbsp fast cooking instant tapioca (can usually find in the baking aisle of your local grocery store).

Method

Place blackberries, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, almond extract, and quick cooking immediate tapioca in a huge bowl. Carefully fold the berries up until they are all well covered with sugar. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 ° F. You should have 2 balls of pie dough, one for the bottom crust, one for the top crust. Present among the balls of pie dough on a lightly floured surface to 12-inch size if you are utilizing a 9-inch pie pan, or 13-inch size if you are useding a 10-inch pan. Line the bottom of your pie pan with the dough. Chill in refrigerator while you present the bottom crust.

Roll out the second ball of pie dough for the top crust. If you wish to do a lattice top, weave the dough strips as explained in How to Make a Lattice Top for a Pie Crust.

Spoon the berry mix into the dough-lined pie meal. For a lattice top, weave strips of pie dough over the top of the fruit-filled pie meal. For a strong top, position the second rolled-out pie dough crust on top of the pie. Press ends of strips into the rim of the bottom crust. Usage scissors to trim the edges to 1/2-inch from the external edge of the pie pan. Fold the edges back over themselves and used your fingers to crimp to seal the edges. If you are using a solid top crust, score the leading with a sharp knife to produce air vents for the steam to escape.

Place the pie on the middle rack of the oven. Put a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any juices that may bubble from the pie while it's cooking. Bake the pie in two stages. First bake it at 400 ° F for 30 minutes. Then place a sheet of aluminum foil over the pie to protect the edges and tops from getting too burnt. (A pie protector is rather useful here.) Minimize the heat to 350 ° F and bake for an extra 30 minutes, until crust has browned and filling is bubbly.

Remove from oven and place on a cake rack. Cool entirely before serving.

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