Sumptuous Blackberry Pie

I was thinking the other day. Thinking is something I do quite often. Probably too much. In the midst of my train of thought (choo-choo!) my tummy interrupted.

"Andrea." It said to me. "I want a pie."
"For real? You want an entire pie?"
"I. WANT. A. PIE."
"Alright already! Chill out!"

Then I asked my taste buds if they had any input, and they said "We don't just want pie. We want blackberry pie."

So snooty, those taste buds.


Thus, the idea of a pie was born. And then when I realized how expensive blackberries were, the idea of a mini pie was born. I refuse to be taken hostage by outrageous berry prices. RE-fuse.

I looked at a couple different websites, compiling strategies as I went. Here's the result!

Before the eating commenced.

After the eating commenced. 

It was a touch underdone, but otherwise perfect. The crust was a bit more chewy than flaky, but that was actually kind of what I was going for. (More baking time would yield a flaky, slightly drier crust.) The blackberry filling was gooey and sweet and turned the most lovely shade of purple. It was divine, and perfectly fallish. Ryan and I loved it. (Yes, I shared it, much to the disappointment of my stomach.)

If you want the recipe, scroll down. If you want to hear some helpful cooking hints, keep reading. (Choices, choices . . .)

Helpful Hints:
In my research, I stumbled upon this recipe which recommended using a bit of lemon juice with a berry pie to add brightness. "Brilliant," I thought to myself. "I shall add the lemon and my pie will be bright." I ended up being out of lemons, but I had frozen lemon rinds in the freezer (because I'm thrifty. Or maybe because I'm lazy. You'll never know.), so I thought I'd peel some zest, and use a bit in the pie.

This was a good idea. Until I put too much zest the pie, and then it was too lemony. I've made adjustments in the recipe below. Use lemon if you feel adventurous. If you choose not to, you'll still have a hot rockin' awesome mini-pie.

A note on the crust: plan ahead! It'll need to chill for at least an hour. Also, as mentioned above, cook for 20-25 minutes for a more flaky, slightly drier crust. The recipe below is approximated, but worked just fine for me. Taste as you make the crust and add sugar and/or salt accordingly. Because the pie filling has sugar in it, I like my crust on the slightly saltier side, hence the "heaping" teaspoon listed below. As always, adjust to your personal taste!

Also, the amount of ice water you use will depend on the humidity in your area. In the Texas inferno where I currently live, I had to use three tablespoons. If your pie crust is too wet, add a bit more flour. You'll know your liquid/dry ingredients ratio is perfect when all crumbs can be incorporated into only a slightly sticky ball.

You will probably have leftover pie crust. This should not make you sad, as there are many wonderful things to make with it. Here are a few ideas: roll out a big circle like you would for a regular pie crust, cut circles out, fill with jam or nutella and bake in a 375º oven for about 20 minutes. Wah-la: empanadas, or hand pies. Scrumptious.

An even easier route? Roll out, slather on melted butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, cut into strips (or shapes) and twist, then bake in a 375º oven for 10-15 minutes depending on the strip (or shape) size. Cinnamon twisties! Who doesn't love those?

Also, any 16 oz baking dish/ramekin/porcelain will work for the pie. I almost used two six ounce ramekins, and that probably would have worked just as well . . . it just wouldn't have been as romantic, y'know, eating out of separate pie bowls.


Two Crust Mini Blackberry Pie 

Crust: (approximately quartered from Martha Stewart's recipe.)

1 cup of flour, scant
1/2 teaspoons sugar, scant
1/2 teaspoons salt, heaping
6 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, scant
2-3 tablespoons ice water

1. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor or bowl.
2. Cut in the butter. Using food processor, pastry cutter, or two knives, pulse or cut until the crumbs look like coarse meal.
3. A little at a time, add ice water until all crumbs can be incorporated into only a slightly tacky ball.
4. Flatten ball into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.

Filling:

6 ounces of halved blackberries
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of sugar - depending on how much sweetness you like.
pinch of lemon zest or 1/4 tsp lemon juice (optional)
1 tablespoons butter
dusting of all-purpose flour as thickener

To assemble:

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Put blackberries in a bowl with a tablespoon of sugar and lemon zest or juice, if using, to help get their juices going. Set aside.
3. Cut ball of chilled dough in thirds. Set two thirds aside, set the other on a floured cutting board and roll it out, then tuck into the bottom of your pie dish. Roll out another third, set aside. Re-wrap extra third in plastic wrap, put in fridge for future use (or use it in one of the other desserts listed above).
4. Put blackberry filling in pie, dust with all-purpose flour, cover with rolled out dough, and trim edges.
5. Slip that bad boy in the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes if using a 16 ounce pie dish. If using a smaller dish, or several dishes, bake for an amount of time proportionate to your baking dish (12-15 minutes for 6 ounce ramekins, 10-12 minutes for 4 ounce ramekins, etc).
6. Eat and rejoice in the blackberry wonderfulness!