Chocolate Blackberry Pie

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One of my favorite things about summer has always been all the amazing produce.  I look forward especially to blackberry season every year!  I can’t really take credit for the picking of all the blackberries, since Derek does most of it.  I try to make sure all of his efforts don’t go in vain by making some tasty treats.  I am hoping to have time to make jam (link) again this year.  A few summers ago, friends were having us over for dinner.  I offered to bring a dessert and asked if they wanted something blackberry or something chocolate.  They cleverly said, why not both?  I’m not sure why it had never occurred to me to combine these two amazing flavors!  I decided on a pie because they have always been one of my favorite things to make and found a recipe for a chocolate pastry crust.  Over the years I have tweaked the recipe and am happy it’s now ready to share!

Let’s get to it.

You’ll start with making the pie dough.  This recipe makes enough for a top and bottom of the pie and a little left over depending on how thick you like your crust.  I like this chocolate crust because it has the rich flavor of a brownie but the flakiness of a pastry.

Whisk together your dry ingredients in a bowl. 

Now cut in the butter and shortening until is it the size of peas. 

Next whisk the egg with a fork and add that and some of the water.  Start stirring it with a large spoon and add more water until it starts to come together.  

Divide the dough in half and pat into round discs.  Wrap them in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.  This dough will keep chilled in the fridge for up to four days.  Lately my pie baking process takes two days if I am baking one during the week, making the dough one day and baking the pie the next.  

Preheat your oven to 375, making sure at least one rack is in the bottom third of the oven.

Now you’ll mix together your filling.  I like to do this first, just to ensure the dough can stay in the fridge as long as possible.  In a medium bowl mix together the berries, sugar and flour.  Obviously, I like using freshly picked berries but have also used the store-bought and simply added a touch more sugar.  If you use frozen berries, thaw them in a colander to drain any excess liquid before using them in a pie (I learned this the hard way, ugh) and add a little more flour.

Onto the dough!  Normally, I would just use flour to roll my dough, but since this is a chocolate pie I like to mix together equal parts cocoa powder and flour to have on the surface I’m using to roll the dough out on.  I do this because the dough is dark, so using less flour means it won’t leave white patches.  

Roll the dough out to your desired thickness and carefully place it in your pie dish. 

Now pour the filling mixture in.  Get out the second disc of dough from the fridge and roll it out for the top.  I like doing a lattice for this pie but you can also just do a full top.  Place your dough over the top and trim the top and bottom. Now pinch the edges to seal them and crimp with your thumb and fingers if you want a more finished look.

Brush the top of the pie with milk and sprinkle with sugar.  If you have turbinado sugar it adds a nice little crunch.  Otherwise, regular white sugar works.

Now bake in the oven 40-50 minutes.  This pie is tricky because it’s harder to tell if it’s burning, so just watch it and occasionally open the oven to inspect it more closely.  It’s done when the crust is no longer moist-looking or soft.

Remove from the oven and let it sit to cool at least 2 hours.  A lesson that took me too long to learn is that hot is not the best way to eat this pie.  You want it to sit a few hours so the juices can settle and thicken.  If you cut it right away it’ll be a soupy mess.  However, if you wait, your patience will be rewarded with a slice of pie that cuts clean.  🙂

 

 

Enjoy!