Blackberry and Apple

We got a treasure in our produce basket this week:  blackberries!  So naturally I needed to make a pie with blackberries in it.  Our neighbors, Dave and Katie, came over with their kids to try it out.  Sadly, Katie didn't get much because the men were so eager for seconds (so I owe her more pie!)  Everybody gave this pie a "thumbs up"!






Apple-Blackberry Pie


Pastry for a double crust pie
1 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons instant tapioca
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup fresh blackberries
3 cups peeled and sliced apples
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

• Mix together the sugar, tapioca, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add the berries and apples to the bowl and gently stir to cover with the sugar mixture, being careful not to break up the blackberries.  Set aside for 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Line pie pan with half the rolled out pastry, and spoon the fruit into the pan.  Dot with the butter and cover with the top pastry.  Crimp edges and cut vents into the crust.  I like to brush the top with ice water then sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake the pie for 10 minutes at 425 degrees, then turn oven down to 375 degrees and bake for 35-40 minutes more (until juices are bubbling and apples are tender).
• Remove from oven and let cool slightly.  We loved this pie with vanilla ice cream.

Berries!

When I picked up my basket of produce from the co-op this morning, I felt somewhat guilty when I saw that we got strawberries again.  I still had an almost full container of strawberries and blackberries from last week!  I got home and opened the refrigerator and also found some blueberries that were about to go past their prime.  I don't know how this happened.  How could we not eat these beauties for a week...or two...?  I couldn't let this situation continue, so of course I made a pie.  I enjoy making fresh strawberry pie that is "all natural" - none of that packaged "goo" that the grocery stores sell and restaurants use.  That stuff is a nasty way to ruin perfectly lovely berries. No - the berries in a good fresh berry pie just need to be held together with a bit of sweetened, mashed berries.  I used my tried and true fresh strawberry pie recipe but tossed in a few blueberries and the half pint of blackberries as well.

Tonight our friends Curtis and Mary dropped by, so of course we invited them to try out this pie.  Mary loved it and named it "Triple Berry Pie".  It was great with sweetened whipped cream on top. (I hear vanilla ice cream was good with it too.)  My son and my husband may have had more than one piece.  Give it a try and see what you think.

Triple Berry Pie

1 9-inch baked pie shell

You need a total of about 4 cups of berries.  The combination of strawberries, blackberries and blueberries is very nice.

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

• Wash, drain and hull the berries and set them aside.
• Mash about 1 cup of strawberries with a potato masher until well juiced, making about 1-1/2 cups of pulpy liquid.  Put them into a medium saucepan and stir in the sugar and cornstarch.  Cook over medium-low heat until mixture comes to a boil.  Boil and stir 1 minute, until thickened.  Cool.
• Toss berries together and pile into pie shell.
• Pour the cooked mixture over the berries in the pie shell, covering the top of all the berries.
• Chill at least two hours, then serve topped with sweetened whipped cream.