Well, you can actually make any kind of pie you want. But you will make pie dough. Because it's such a snap and it's so good when it's homemade. You don't think you can make homemade pie dough? What if I told you that if you have a food processor, you can make it in 60 seconds? You don't have a food processor? Put it on your Christmas list. You need one.
Besides, do you really want to use that pre-made pie dough in the grocery store? Here's the ingredient list for Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Dough:
Do you really want to eat that? Who eats partially hydrogenated lard anymore? The ingredients for my pie dough are flour, water, sugar, butter. You can make pie dough whenever the whim hits you.
ceramic plate from Fifty One and a Half - a talented friend of mine makes
these pretty platters and plates. She's also the mother of
Gaby from What's Gaby Cooking!
I suppose you think rolling out pie dough is hard. Please. I'm going to let you in on the biggest tip for rolling out pie dough. In fact, it makes it so easy I don't know why every single recipe for making a pie doesn't mention it: place the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap. If you've never tried it, you will be amazed. The dough doesn't stick to the counter or the rolling pin and it makes it so easy to roll out.
So there's no excuses anymore. Make a pie.
My husband is crazy about this particular raspberry blackberry crumb pie. There is a bakery in our town that makes these crumb topping pies and he used to like those but frankly, they are coyingly sweet. He prefers this pie, hands down. You can use different fruits - even pitted cherries for this. But this raspberry blackberry combination is his favorite.
You are going to "blind bake" this pie. That means you are going to bake just the crust first for a little while, without the filling, to set it. This prevents a soggy crust and it is a technique that is so worth doing. You need pie weights to do this or just dried beans work, also. But you're going to be a pie-making whiz now, so get youself some pie weights. You can find them in most grocery stores. The pie weights prevent the crust from bubbling up too badly before it's had a chance to set.
Pie Crust Recipe
for a printable recipe of just the pie crust click here
Makes dough for one single crust pie. The recipe is easily doubled for a two crust pie. I use regular butter here instead of unsalted, so I don't need to add any salt. If all you have is unsalted butter on hand, be sure to add 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- 1¾ cup flour (about 9 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1½ sticks cold butter (12 tablespoons), cut into slices
- ¼ cup ice water (approximately)
Place flour and sugar in a food processor. Pulse. Add about half of the butter. Pulse. Add the rest of the butter. Pulse until the mixture turns into coarse crumbs. Through the feed tube, slowly add most of the ice water and pulse until the dough gathers up into a ball. If it doesn't after a few seconds, add a few more drops of ice water until it does. Take the dough and flatten it into a disc and place it on a sheet of floured plastic wrap and wrap it up. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Raspberry Blackberry Crumb Pie
for a printable recipe, click here
makes one 9" deep dish pie
For the Fruit Filling:
Ingredients:
for the pie filling:
- 4 6-ounce containers (1/2 pints) of raspberries
- 2 6-ounce containers of blackberries
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- zest of one lemon
For the Crumb Topping:
- 1/2 cup flour (I like to use white whole wheat)
- 1/2 cup sugar (I like to use half brown sugar, half regular sugar)
- 1/2 cup butter, cut into slices
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
Instructions:
For the Filling:
Gently blend all ingredients in a large bowl.
For the Topping:
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well blended.
Assemble and Bake the Pie:
You will need a 9-inch deep dish pie plate, sprayed with a little Pam and some pie weights or dried beans. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Roll out the pie dough between two sheets of plastic wrap until it's a little larger than your pie dish. Transfer to the pie dish (the easiest way to do this is to roll up the sheet of dough around the rolling pin, transfer the rolling pan to the pie plate and unroll). Gentle press the dough down into the pie plate. Crimp the edges decoratively and dock the bottom of the dough with a fork.
Line the pie with a sheet of tin foil. Place either pie weights or dried beans in the pie plate. Gentle press down the pie weights so they fill in the bottom of the plate. Bake for 15 minutes. Take pie out of oven and gently remove the sheet of tin foil with the pie weights. Place pie back in oven and back for another 15 minutes. Check the pie dough and, if you see any large bubble forming, spear it with a skewer.
Use pie weights to "blind bake" the pie. It sets the crust and
will prevent it from being soggy
Remove from oven and add the filling. Crumble topping over the top. Place a pie ring shield over crust or strips of tin foil, to prevent overbrowning. Place pie on baking sheet to prevent a mess in the bottom of your oven. Return to oven and bake for about 1 hour, until topping is golden brown. Do not let the crumb topping get too dark. Remove from oven and let cool a bit before serving.
