Wild Blackberry Pie

By Robin Marie Horn

It’s the end of blackberry season here in California. No more berries at the farmers markets, but they’re still ripening along fences and in fields here and there. There are fewer blackberries than in summer, but most berry pickers have forgotten about them. So it’s the perfect time for the last blackberry pie of the year. You can also combine any proportion of raspberries, strawberries, and/or blueberries with the blackberries in this recipe.

My favorite part is the easy crust adapted from a classic Joy of Cooking recipe. No ice-water or special pastry tools are needed, just stir ingredients together. Canola oil and buttermilk or yogurt replace the usual shortening, cutting out saturated fat. The filling is also simple, adapted from an old San Jose Mercury newspaper clipping.

I like the filling to be completely set, so I used 2 tbsp tapioca. if you like it juicier, reduce the tapioca to between 1 – 2 tbsp. I eliminated dotting the filling with 1 – 2 tbsp butter before adding the top crust, for health and simplicity. If you want to use the butter, I recommend unsalted. If you use yogurt, use a thinner style rather than thick. 

Wild blackberries are surprisingly popular with tiny insects, especially little white worms. They can also be full of fuzzy pistils from their flowers, so be sure to rinse them thoroughly. I submerge them for a few minutes in water, stir them around, pour off the water, soak again, stir, then drain and rinse them in a colander. If you see something small, white, and moving, you know what to do.

Blackberry Pie

Makes one 10-inch pie

6 cups mixed berries
2/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp granulated tapioca
1 tsp orange zest (or less to taste)
pinch of salt (small)
double pie crust (recipe below)

Put all the fruit in a large bowl. Combine sugar, tapioca granules, salt, and orange zest in a separate bowl then pour over fruit and stir to mix. Let fruit mixture sit while you make your pie crust.

Stir-n-roll Crust

For two single-crust 10″ pies or one double-crust

3 C flour (can make 1 C of this whole wheat flour)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C plus 2 tbsp. buttermilk, yogurt, or kefir
3/4 C plus 2 tbsp. canola oil (a little less oil if you use the whole wheat)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour and salt together (or blend with fork). Use the same whisk and blend together oil and yogurt/buttermilk/kefir. Pour into flour and mix quickly until it all comes together into a ball; shape briefly with your hands if you like.

Break or cut dough into two equal halves. Flatten and shape one half into a disk about an inch thick on a piece of waxed paper. Cover with another sheet of waxed paper if desired, and roll out to a size that will fit into the pie pan. Lift off top sheet of waxed paper (if used) and invert dough over pie plate; lift off other sheet of waxed paper and carefully settle dough down into plate.

Roll out the second half of dough the same way. For a simple top crust, just cut slits in the dough before inverting over filling. For a lattice crust, cut dough into 1/2 to 3/4-inch strips and lay over the pie in a criss-cross pattern starting from the middle and working outwards.

After applying either method of top crust, fold or tuck any extra dough overhanging the edges under bottom crust dough and crimp decoratively.

Protect the edge of the pie crust from burning by carefully placing aluminum foil strips on it and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the crust is golden and filling is bubbly. Cool completely before slicing.

Remember to recycle your aluminum foil!

Recipe adapted from Live Earth Farm’s CSA newsletter.

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