MAKE IT PRETTY: BLACKBERRY AND PEAR PIE WITH DECORATIVE CRUST
Ingredients
For the pie crust
2 ½cupsflour
1tspsalt
1tbspsugar
1cupcold butter
¼ - ½cupice water
For the pie filling
2pintsblackberries
4-6pearspeeled and chopped
¼cupminute tapioca
1cupsugar
1tspdried gingeror 1 inch piece fresh
Pinchof salt
1 egg, beaten
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Make the pastry
In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar and salt together.
Cut the butter into small cubes and using a pastry blender or food processor, cut the butter into the flour until it resembles sand.
Add the ice water a little at a time until the pastry comes together. Form it into a ball, flatten it a bit and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Make the pie filling
Peel and chop the pears into roughly the same size as the blackberries.
Place blackberries and pears in a large bowl.
If you are using fresh ginger, grate the ginger and add it to the fruit.
In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients (tapioca, sugar salt and dried ginger, if using)
Add the dry ingredients to the fruit and gently fold together.
Let rest for fifteen minutes or more.
Assemble the pie
Roll out half the pastry and line the bottom of pie pan.
Roll out the second half of the pastry and cut into a circle about 4 inches larger than your pie pan.
Using a cookie cutter or stencil, cut leaves out of the pastry around the outer edge.
Fill the lined pie pan with the fruit mixture, spreading the fruit evenly throughout the pan.
Carefully place the top layer over the fruit and seal it with a fork or by pinching it with your fingers.
Brush all over the pastry with a lightly beaten egg.
Make a flower with the cut-out leaf shapes in the center of the pie. Roll three small balls for the center.
Brush the flower with the egg wash and sprinkle the whole pie with sugar.
Place the pie on a cookie sheet and bake in the center of your oven.
Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45-50 minutes until the pastry has brown and the filling is bubbling.
Let pie cool to room temperature before cutting.
Recipe Notes
Note: If you don’t have a pastry blender, freeze the butter and grate it. The refreeze for about ten minutes. Using your fingers, mix it quickly into the flour. The pastry can be made a day or two in advance.