This quick and easy recipe features the perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors with fresh, juicy, sweet blackberries or dewberries wrapped in a flakey, buttery crust. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and it's the stuff dessert legends are made of.
6cupsfresh blackberries or dewberriesabout 1.75 pounds
1cupsugar
3tablespoonscornstarch
½teaspoongrated lemon zest
1teaspoonlemon juice
2disksrefrigerated pie dough
2tablespoonsbuttercut into small cubes
1egg
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Add blackberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and lemon juice to a large bowl to make the blackberry filling.
Use a fork or potato masher and coarsely mash the blackberries. Let the berry mixture macerate for 20 minutes.
To make the pie crust, fit one of the rounds of dough into a nine-inch pie plate.
Sprinkle a little flour on your countertop and roll out the remaining crust until about twelve inches wide. Next, use a pastry wheel or pizza wheel and cut the dough into strips approximately three-quarters of an inch wide. (You should end up with ten or eleven strips.)
Pour the blackberry mixture into the pie shell. Dot the top with the pieces of butter.
Arrange half of the dough strips evenly over the filling with about a half-inch space between the strips.
Fold back every other strip and begin weaving the remaining strips diagonally across them in a lattice pattern. Continue until all of the strips have been woven in.
Fold the excess bottom pie crust over the lattice strips. Then, to crimp the edges, use the index finger of one hand to push the inner edge out while pinching the outer edge in with the thumb and index finger of the other hand.
Lightly beat the egg with one tablespoon of water and brush the egg wash on the top and edges of the dough. (This is the secret to a shiny golden-brown crust.)
Put the dish on a baking sheet covered with foil or parchment paper and place the sheet on the middle rack in your oven. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the crust is dark golden brown.
Let the pie cool completely before serving. Don't worry if the blackberry mixture looks a little runny, it will thicken as it cools. Serve topped with vanilla ice cream if desired.
Notes
If your blackberries don't taste as sweet as you would like, feel free to add a few more tablespoons of sugar to the filling mixture.Don't worry if your pie ends up looking a little messy; it will still be delicious.Different brands of pie crusts often are of different sizes. For the best results, your crust should be at least three inches wider than your pie plate. If it isn't, roll it out on a floured surface with a rolling pin and then fit it in your pie plate.Keep your dough in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. It's much easier to work with cold dough.This is a juicy pie, and, more than likely, it will overflow a bit while baking. Be sure to place it on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper to keep it from overflowing in your oven.If you purchase a frozen crust, be sure to let it thaw before working with it.You can safely store this pie covered on your counter at room temperature for up to two days. After that, you should store it covered in the refrigerator.