Bramble Berry Pie

This recipe comes from Molly Watson, Sunset Magazine Food Editor.

Pies like this one gave rise to the phrase “it’s as easy as pie.” Mix fresh berries with some sugar and a bit of thickener (flour and tapioca in this case), pour into the crust, and bake. We liked the bit of rich flavor the brown sugar added to the bright berries and found a less sweet pie went perfectly with ice cream.

5 cups raspberries, blackberries, marionberries, or other bramble berries
1/4 cup flour
1/4-3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tsp.
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon quick-cooking tapioca
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 recipe Flaky Pie Crust Dough (see recipe, below)
1 tablespoon butter
Whipped cream or ice cream (optional)

1. Put an oven rack on the lowest rung. Preheat oven to 375°. Unwrap one disk of Flaky Pie Crust Dough and put on a floured surface. Roll dough into an 12-in. circle (about 1/8-in. thick), turning 90° between each pass of the rolling pin to keep it from sticking. Transfer dough to a 9-in. pie pan, letting it fall into place (if you push or stretch it into place it will shrink back when baked). Trim dough edges 1/4 in. past pie pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 minutes or up to overnight. Meanwhile, roll out second disk to an 11-in. circle. Transfer to a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 15 minutes.

2. While crusts chill, put berries in a large bowl. Sprinkle with flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, tapioca, salt, and lemon juice. Stir together gently until berries are well coated. Taste and add more granulated sugar if you wish.

3.  Pour berry mixture into crust dough in pie pan and dot with butter. Unwrap top crust and lay over top of pie. Fold bottom crust edge up over top of top crust and crimp crust edges together, cut several vents in the top crust, and sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. sugar. Bake pie on bottom oven rack until crust is browned and filling is bubbling, 60 to 75 minutes. Cover edges with foil if they become too dark before middle of top is nicely browned. Let cool until bottom of pie pan is room temperature. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream, if you like.

Flaky Pie Crust Dough

After many experiments we concluded that the best pie crust was made with two fats---shortening for a flaky texture and butter for a delicious flavor. This easy, workable dough has both. 

MAKES: 1 double-crust 9-in. pie or 2 single-crust 9-in. pies
NOTES: This recipe easily halves to make a single-crust 9-in. pie. If you like the flavor and flakiness that lard gives to pie crust, substitute 2 tbsp. lard for 2 tbsp. of the shortening.

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoon very cold butter, cut into small pieces
7 tablespoon very cold shortening, cut into pieces

1. Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Drop in butter and shortening. Using your hands, a fork, a pastry cutter, or two knives, work butter and shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles cornmeal with some small pea-size pieces.

2. Using a fork, quickly stir in 1/2 cup very cold water (mixture will not hold together). Turn chunks of dough and all of the crumbs onto a clean surface. Knead just until dough starts to hold together, but some bits still fall away, 5 to 10 times. Divide dough in half and pat each half into a 6-in. disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 minutes or up to overnight.

Serves 8