Pie and Pastry Bible (35 page)

For the optional glaze, lightly beat egg and cream. Brush the lattice and border with the egg glaze and, if time allows, refrigerate the pie for 1 hour, loosely covered with plastic wrap, to keep the crust from shrinking when it bakes.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. at least 20 minutes before baking. Set an oven rack at the lowest level and place a baking stone or baking sheet on it before preheating.

Set the pie directly on the baking stone and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the filling is
thickly
bubbling all over and the center is slightly puffed. After 15 minutes, protect the edges from overbrowning with a foil ring (see page 19). If the lattice starts to become too dark toward the last 10 minutes of baking, cover it loosely with a piece of foil with a vent hole in the center.

Cool the pie on a rack for at least 3 hours before serving.

STORE

Room temperature, up to 2 days.

BLACKBERRY PIE

V
arieties of blackberries that are sweet and juicy are a treasure. They are excellent both baked in a pie and used fresh to top a tart. Taste them before you use them. If they are not sweet and full-flavored, no amount of sugar will counteract the bitterness.

Blackberries are the first berry I ever tasted. When I was three years old, living with my grandparents in Far Rockaway, New York, near the ocean, my grandfather took me for a walk and just a block from our house, we discovered a wild blackberry
patch. I still remember eagerly picking the luscious sun-warmed berries and popping them into my mouth, until I looked down at my legs and noticed that they were covered with a dark red, sticky substance I thought to be berry juice. My grandfather was a very tall man and would never have noticed had I not called his attention to it. He realized immediately that it was not berry juice at all but blood from multiple scratches from the large thorns on the berries’ stems. I had been so entranced by the flavor of the berries, I never felt a thing. “We have to go back,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt, Grandpa,” was my bravely hopeful reply. Clearly I loved the blackberries enough to overlook any possible discomfort and did not want to leave. “No, we have to go; Grandma will be very angry and think I didn’t take good care of you.” Which is exactly what transpired. And the only pain I remember is of having to leave those still unpicked berries and of the removal of Grandma’s bandages a few days later (it was before the advent of nonstick Band-Aids).

This is a pure, straightforward fruit pie, entirely dependent on the quality of the blackberries you use.

EQUIPMENT

A 9-inch pie pan

Make the dough (page 23).

Remove the dough for the bottom crust from the refrigerator. If necessary, allow it to sit for about 10 minutes or until it is soft enough to roll.

On a floured pastry cloth or between two sheets of lightly floured plastic wrap, roll the bottom crust
inch thick or less and 12 inches in diameter. Transfer it to the pie pan. Trim the edge almost even with the edge of the pan. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 3 hours.

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and salt and whisk to blend. Whisk in the lemon juice. Add the berries and toss very gently to coat them with the mixture without crushing them. Allow them to sit for 15 minutes, until they start to release some of their juices and the dry ingredients are moistened completely.

Toss the berries gently again and transfer the blackberry mixture to the pie shell.

Roll out the top crust large enough to cut a 12-inch circle. Use an expandable flan ring or a cardboard template and a sharp knife as a guide to cut out the circle. Use a small round scalloped cutter to make many small berry-like cutouts from the circle. (If desired, these rounds can be used to decorate the top crust.)

Moisten the edges of the bottom crust with water and place the top crust over the fruit. Tuck the overhang under the bottom crust border and press down all around the top to seal it. Crimp the border using a fork or your fingers (see page 13). If using the pastry cutouts, brush the undersides lightly with water before placing them on the crust. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour before baking to chill and relax the pastry. This will maintain flakiness and help to keep the crust from shrinking.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. at least 20 minutes before baking. Set an oven rack in the lowest level and place a baking stone or baking sheet on it before preheating. Place a large piece of greased foil on top to catch any juices.

Set the pie directly on the foil-topped baking stone and bake for 30 to 40 minutes (45 minutes if using frozen berries) or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is
thickly
bubbling. After 30 minutes, protect the edges from overbrowning with a foil ring (see page 19).

Cool the pie on a rack for at least 4 hours before serving.

STORE

Room temperature, up to 2 days.

UNDERSTANDING

Fresh blackberries often have tough seeds, but there are some varieties that seem practically seedless. I have not found that adding vinegar, purported to help, makes any difference. The best solution for the tough seed variety is avoidance. The seeds in commercial frozen blackberries are consistently softer and the berries are never bitter, because of the variety of berries chosen. They make a luscious, juicy, and flavorful pie.

DEEP-DISH MARIONBERRY PIE

T
he Marionberry is a hybrid from Marion County, Oregon—a happy marriage of the red raspberry and the blackberry, a velvety, intensely flavorful berry that resembles the long variety of blackberry in shape, with a reddish purple hue. The Marionberry is far less bitter than the raspberry and far less seedy than the blackberry, with a perfect balance of sweet/tart reminiscent of an earthy cabernet. The most remarkably distinctive characteristic of the Marionberry is that if frozen and defrosted, it is the only berry that maintains its texture, softening only very slightly as it releases some of its purple juices. This makes it possible to have a taste of the joy of fresh summer berries all year round.

Cooked berries in general become jammy and seedy in texture and lose much of their sweetness, necessitating as much as six times more sugar than uncooked berries. Cooking some of the Marionberries, however, and folding in some of the defrosted uncooked berries when they are cool is the solution. It is possible to do this because they hold their shape so well.

The crust is placed on top, so it stays crisp, but if a bottom crust is desired, the filling can be made a day ahead to give it a chance to thicken and placed in a baked pie shell shortly before serving. Alternatively, an extra teaspoon of cornstarch can be added to the filling so that it can be served the same day. Passion or lemon ice cream (page 237 or 235) would be the perfect accompaniment for this fruit.

EQUIPMENT

A 9-inch pie plate or a 4-cup casserole (the filling is a little under 3 cups)

Make and bake the pastry cutouts and balls, sprinkling them with sugar before baking (see page 14).

Measure out 1½ cups (6 ounces) of the Marionberries and set aside. Allow all the berries to defrost completely.

In a medium saucepan, place the orange and lemon zest and cover with several inches of cold water. Bring to a boil and boil for 15 minutes. Drain the zest in a strainer and rinse it well under cold running water. Return it to the saucepan.

Drain all the juice from the berries onto the zest (there should be about 9 tablespoons). Add ¾ cup of the water, the sugar, and syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Cover and simmer it for 15 minutes. Add the 1½ cups of Marionberries. Bring the mixture to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, salt, and the remaining 3 tablespoons of water. Set it aside.

When the Marionberries are boiling, lower the heat and simmer, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes or until they have fallen apart. Stirring constantly, add the cornstarch mixture. Simmer for 1 minute, stirring gently, or until the mixture
becomes translucent and thick. Immediately remove it from the heat and quickly but gently fold in the remaining 4½ cups of berries. Empty the mixture into the pie plate and allow it to sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours before serving.