Baked Sunday Mornings: Blackberry Pie

I would never make a blackberry pie if it wasn't on the schedule for Baked Sunday Mornings.  I don't like blackberries, I almost never make pies, and I'm pretty sure that I've never made a two-crust fruit pie before in my entire life (I don't think that these mini-pies count).  But one of the best things about joining a bakealong is that I get to make recipes that I would otherwise never try.

I really like the "Classic Pie Dough" recipe that is used for this pie.  It's an all-butter crust (flour, sugar, salt, butter, and ice water) made in the food processor.  I chilled my dough for a full day before rolling it out, and I've never had such a great experience with pie crust dough -- no sticking, no tearing, no fighting, no muss, no fuss.  Absolutely trouble free.  The pie filling is blackberries mixed with lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, brown sugar, flour, and salt, topped with dots of butter.  The filling was mounded quite high in my 9-inch pie pan, but I didn't have any problems putting on the top crust.  I was quite pleased with how nice the pie looked before I put it in the oven, after I had crimped the edges, cut vents, brushed on an egg wash, and sprinkled sugar on top. 

The recipe instructs you to bake the pie "until the filling bubbles and the crust is golden, about 1 hour."  I left my pie in the oven for 70 minutes, until the top was a deep golden brown and juice was bubbling out of several vents onto the sheet tray I had placed beneath the pie pan.  The pie looked perfect.

I let the pie cool for several hours before cutting it open in front of dinner guests, only to discover that there was a huge pool of blackberry soup at the bottom of the pie.  I don't mean thickened pie filling, but runny, thin, blackberry juice.  I cut and scooped out pieces of pie as best I could, but besides the soupy mess in the pie pan, I had to deal with the top crust collapsing a bit.  I was quite distressed to be faced with this ugly scene after I had served most of the pie.

I quickly got over the disappointment of how bad the interior of the pie looked after I took a bite.  The crust and the filling were absolutely delicious, especially when served with vanilla ice cream.  I don't like blackberries because I find the hard seeds unpleasant and I think they're too tart, but the pie had the perfect amount of sweetness and the blackberries had a nice soft texture while still holding their shape well.  The bottom crust was severely undercooked, but the top crust was buttery and quite good.   

I'm not sure if the problem was underbaking, not enough flour/thickening agent (the filling recipe uses only 1/3 cup of flour for 7 cups of blackberries), or a combination of the two, but this pie was definitely a disaster from a technical standpoint.  That said, everyone who ate this pie enjoyed it and no one complained.  Despite the fact that it tasted good, I had enough problems with this pie that I don't think I'll make it again -- but this pie has definitely changed my mind about how delicious blackberries can be!

Recipe: "Blackberry Pie," from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.