Fall Fruit Free-for-all: Blackberry Pie
The fall fruit harvest is upon us, and I'm planning to take advantage of it. In the first installment of our Fall Fruit Free-for-all last week I showcased plum clafoutis, a simple, yet elegant dessert that convinced me once and for all that clafoutis isn't just for cherries anymore.
Today's blackberry pie recipe from Kate McDermott, "the pie whisperer," requires more time and more skill, but if you love pie, it's a recipe that's worth mastering. Her crust is perfect, light and crisp. Her berries are virtually unadorned, sweet and pure. My husband made her blueberry pie this weekend--to rave reviews! Here is her recipe for lattice-topped blackberry pie, a Northwest favorite.
Blackberry Pie
Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups plus 1/3 cup flour
9 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
8 tablespoons cold rendered leaf lard, cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 cups (about 1-1/2 pounds) blackberries
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
A very small grating of nutmeg
1 egg white
Directions:
1. Put 2-1/2 cups flour, 8 tablespoons butter, lard, and half of the salt into a large bowl. Using your fingers, blend together until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Sprinkle 10 tablespoons ice-cold water over the mixture; stir gently with a fork until dough comes together. Halve dough; form it into 2 thick disks, each about 5" wide. Wrap disks separately in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Unwrap 1 dough disk; transfer to a well-floured surface. Whack it with a rolling pin several times to flatten it out; turn it over and repeat. Roll out dough to form an 11" circle; transfer it to a 9" deep-dish pie pan. (If dough tears and needs mending, dab a little water where it requires patching and "glue" on a piece of dough.) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
3. Arrange a baking sheet on lower rack of oven; heat to 425°. Put berries, 3⁄4 cup sugar, lemon juice, zest, nutmeg, remaining flour, and salt into a bowl. Using a wooden spoon, mash gently to make a textured filling; pour into chilled crust; dot with remaining butter; set aside.
4. Beat egg white and 1 tbsp. water together in a bowl; set aside. Roll out remaining dough disk into an 11" circle; cut into 3/4"-wide strips. Arrange strips over pie in a lattice pattern; trim excess dough and crimp edges of pie. Brush crust with egg mixture; sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake on the middle rack of the oven until crust is just golden, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°; bake until golden brown and bubbling, about 30 minutes more. Let cool before serving.
Tracy's notes: Instead of making a lattice top, you can simply repeat Step #2, place this crust over the filling, crimp the edges, then cut vent holes.
Makes one 9" pie.
Saveur, Issue 108
--Tracy Schneider
camera accessories on September 20, 2009 at 09:58 PM
Truly speaking tracy I had never get these recipe.I read it and in evening I am going to make in the dinner time.I am excited too and thanks for the recipe.
I will be back soon.Thankyou again.