Name: Micha Heilman
Class Year: 2019
Country of Residence: The Netherlands
Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory?
This is the blackberry pie that I grew up eating, made lovingly by my mom, and it is a recipe she has been baking since she was 12 years old! Each summer my mom and I would go out to the berry farms in Oregon close to where we lived and pick strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, marionberries, tayberries, and currents. We would then make a mixture of jams and “pie units” as my mom liked to call it when she would freeze 5 cup bags of berries to make into pie. This was the summer haul that lasted us throughout the winter, ensuring we could eat delicious pies and jams year round. I love this recipe because it is simple to make and absolutely delicious.
Mom’s Blackberry Pie
Makes one 12-inch pie. Takes approx. 2 hours.
Ingredients:
Pie Filling
5 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
¾ cup sugar
3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca or cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt
2-3 Tbsp unsalted butter (substitute plant based butter or oil), cut into small pieces
“Easy Crust with Oil”
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
½ cp vegetable oil
¼ cup milk (or plant based milk)
Instructions:
Heat oven to 220 C (425 F) for fresh berries, or 205 C (400 F) for frozen berries. Begin with the Pie Filling
For fresh berries:
1a) Mix the fruit, sugar, thickener, lemon juice, and salt in a bowl and let stand for 15 minutes.
2a) While the mixture stands, make the pie crust.
For frozen berries:
1b) Mix the fruit, sugar, thickener, lemon juice, and salt in a bowl. Spoon the filling into the crust (almost) at once.
Make the “Easy Pie Crust”
2) Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl.
3) Add oil and milk into the same measuring cup and do not stir. 4) Add the oil/milk mixture to the flour and stir to moisten.
5) Immediately separate the dough into 2 halves and roll each between two sheets of waxed paper to fit the size of your pie dish.
Combine
6) Flip one crust into the pie dish, ensuring it evenly covers the dish
7) Pour the fuit filling into the crust, dot with unsalted butter, and place the second crust on top.
8) Merry the crusts by pinching them together with your fingers. With a knife cut 4 vent holes in the crust about 1 inch from the center of the pie, and about 1 inch in length.
Bake
For fresh berry pie:
9a) Bake the pie in the lower 1/3 of the oven at 220 C for 30 minutes.
10a) Slip a baking sheet beneath it and reduce the oven temperature to 175 C. Bake the pie until thick juices bubble through the vents, about 30 minutes.
For frozen berry pie:
9b) Bake the pie at 205 C for 50 minutes.
10b) Slip a baking sheet beneath it and reduce the oven temperature to 175 C. Bake the pie until thick juices bubble through the vents, about 25 to 40 minutes.
11) Let sit for about 30-40 minutes to cool and thicken. The cooler it is, the more it will stick together.
12) Enjoy!
Source: The pie crust comes from Fanny Farmer’s Cookbook, and the blackberry pie recipes come from The Joy of Cooking.
