Blackberry Pie Recipe

Spring, summer, fall -- it's always time for blackberry pie! Top with ice cream or eat it plain, this rich, flavorful dessert is as simple as it is beloved.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword blackberry recipes, Dessert Pie Recipes, pie recipes

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 20

Servings people

Calories 245kcal

Author Kathleen

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons Minute tapioca
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 cups fresh blackberries (2-36 ounce containers)
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
2 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crusts
2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
1-2 tablespoons coarse sugar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 400°F.
Grind the tapioca (3 tablespoons) in a spice grinder, or just a cleaned coffee grinder, until it becomes a fine powder.
Whisk together sugar (1 1/2 cups), ground tapioca, and salt (1/8 teaspoon) in a mixing bowl. Add blackberries (8 cups), lemon zest (2 teaspoons), lemon juice (2 tablespoons), and water (2 tablespoons), and fold until the mixture is evenly coated. Allow to set on the counter at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Roll one of the pie crusts, on a lightly floured counter, into a 12-inch circle. Fit into a standard 9-inch pie plate. Trim excess dough leaving a 1-inch overhang. Put back in the fridge while you prepare the second crust.
Roll out the second crust, on a lightly floured counter, into a 12-inch circle. Cut into 12-one inch strips with a knife or pastry wheel.
Spoon blackberry mixture into a dough-lined pie plate. Dot with butter. Arrange strips in a tight lattice pattern. Trim excess off ends of dough strips flush with the overhang of the bottom crust. Fold lattice ends and bottom crust under. Flute edges using your thumb and forefinger or crimps with a fork.
Brush lattice top with heavy cream (2 tablespoons) and sprinkle with coarse sugar (1-2 tablespoons).
Place the pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven, until the crust is golden brown and the juices of the pie have slow bursting bubbles in the center of the filling, about 50-60 minutes. If crust begins to brown too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil.

Notes

Berries: You'll want eight cups of fresh blackberries for this recipe. There are two cups of blackberries per pint -- so you'll need four pints total. You can also use frozen if fresh isn't an option!
Thickener: Flour is the standard thickener for fruit pies, followed closely by cornstarch. But both flour and cornstarch can actually lose their thickening power when exposed to acid (i.e., lemon juice), so for any fruit pie that brings tartness, I use tapioca.
- Grind: Obviously grinding the tapioca is an extra step, but it’s worthwhile to ensure it dissolves smoothly, especially when making a lattice-topped pie. Parts of the fruit filling will be exposed directly to the hot air of the oven which may cause the tapioca to dry out before dissolving fully. I don’t grind it before using it in my Strawberry Cobbler, for example, but it’s important when making a lattice-topped pie.
- Best Type: I like to use Minute Tapioca, Kraft’s brand of instant tapioca, which is a granulated version of the big pearls you find in the pudding. You don’t have to cook it before baking with it, but it does need to “bloom” for a few minutes (similar to activating yeast) to make sure it’ll work the way it’s supposed to. Then your filling is ready for baking!
Dietary Restrictions: You can easily make a vegan blackberry pie by substituting a homemade or store-bought vegan pie crust, then using non-dairy milk to brush the pie crust before baking. Since we’re not using flour to thicken the pie, you can also substitute a gluten-free pie crust and make this suitable for anyone with sensitivity.
Lattice: You can forego lattice and top the pie with another solid piece of pie dough -- just be sure to add some vent slits so the steam can escape. I still recommend brushing the top with milk or cream and dusting it with coarse sugar to add that little professional touch to your pie.

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