Blackberries are an underrated pastry filling! They fill your pie with a sense of garden-fresh wholesomeness and the touch of orange adds vibrancy. You're gonna love this one. Bonus: frozen blackberries are available all year.
Blackberry Beauty Pie
Ingredients
Dough for a 9" double-crust pie
5 cups of frozen blackberries
1 cup sugar
3.5 T. tapioca flour (see notes)
1 T. orange zest
1/2 T. orange juice
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
2 T. brandy OR 1 t. vanilla
1 T. unsalted butter
2 T. sparkling sugar
Optional glaze: 1/2 egg, beaten, mixed with 2 T. half & half
Directions
Roll out bottom crust, fit into pan, trim. Chill til needed.
Mix dry ingredients together, then stir in brandy/vanilla, orange juice and zest.
Stir in the berries until evenly coated.
Place berry mix into bottom crust and dot with butter.
Place top crust over berries, trim, crimp and add slits.
If using the egg wash, apply it now, then sprinkle on the sparklig sugar.
Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, then lower the oven to 375 and bake until both top & bottom are golden. You may need to use a crust shield and/or put a drip-catcher on the bottom shelf!
Baker’s Notes and Tips and Tricks
The recipe calls for "tapioca flour" or "tapioca starch," which is not the same as "minute tapioca," the kind that comes in little beads (also sometimes used as a thickener). You can find tapioca starch in asian grocery stores, or you can order "Instant Clearjel Pie Thickener" from King Arther Flour Company. (I love this!) Or you can use regular tapioca (4 T).
Since you're using frozen berries, this will be a juicy pie. That's why you may need something to catch any drips. Add a silicone sheet or foil to the rack below the pie (not on the bottom of the oven) halfway through baking.
A lattice crust or "flower petals" (as shown in the picture) are lovely for this recipe.
Recipe Submitted By
Rebecca Jo Dakota