Fresh Blackberry Pie

Wild blackberries are so abundant in our area this time of year and my husband, Harold, has been enjoying picking many buckets for making culinary delights. I decided to use my favorite recipe for Fresh Raspberry Pie and simply change the berries used to blackberry. This recipe is really simple and I love how easy the pie dough is to handle. It results in a picture-perfect pie everytime!




The ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Filling:
1-1/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 tablespoons cornstarch
5 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened raspberries, or in this case, blackberries, thawed
1 tablespoon butter

Topping:
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon sugar

Rinse the berries in a colander and shake the excess water off. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt.

Add the shortening.

Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl, combine the beaten egg, water and vinegar. Add to the flour mixture until just moistened.

Divide the dough in half so that one ball is slightly larger than the other; wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 or until easy to handle.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, tapioca, cornstarch and blackberries. In my case, the berries were really juicy, so I threw in a little flour to make sure the pie thickened up. Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the larger ball of dough to fit a 9-in pie plate. Transfer the dough to pie plate, trim even with the edge. Save the edges for another use mentioned down farther.

Add the blackberry filling; dot with butter.

Roll out the remaining dough to fit top of pie; place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits in top. Brush with milk; sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack. It will thicken as it sits.

While the pie is baking, the dishes can be tackled!

The scraps of pie crust can be put on a cookie sheet, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and baked at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

A friend dropped off my all-time favorite coffee drink- Starbucks pumpkin spice lattte! No other brands or shops come close to theirs! I enjoyed a pie crust cookie with my coffee.

The pie, hot from the oven.

Serve with vanilla ice cream. Yield: 6-8 servings. Enjoy!! Next up: Amish Friendship Bread.