Difficulty 2/5
Pies <3 what’s not to love about them! There’s something absolutely magical about food contained within food, specially when both taste amazing. And here I want to stop for a second to say that the dough being tasty is as important as the filling, because if not, you can eat a bowl of blackberries and that’s it. And this crust is genius, so go ahead and make it, it’s worth it. Crunchy, slightly salty and the perfect complement for sweet and juicy blackberries. You can also make these in a large pie version, I put the different measures below.
Portions: 4 mini pies (10cm diametre) or 1 large pie
Ingredients:
For the crust:
– 200g flour
– 150g butter, soft at room temperature
– 50g sugar + more to sprinkle on top
– 1 egg
– 2 tsp salt
– 1 tsp vanilla essence
– 1 tbsp melted butter for painting the top
For the filling:
– 400g blackberries (600 if it’s one large pie)
– 115g sugar (170 if it’s one large pie)
– Juice from 1 lime (or 1 1/2 if it’s one large pie)
– 2 tbsp cornstarch (or 3 if it’s one large pie)
– 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or 3/4 tsp if it’s one large pie)
– 1/2 tsp salt (or 3/4 if it’s one large pie)
– pinch nutmeg
Procedure:
1. For the dough, whisk the butter and the sugar together until very smooth.
2. Add the egg and vanilla essence and whisk together. Then add all the dry ingredients and mix using a spatula until very uniform.
3. Cover in cling film and let rest in the fridge for 30min
4. Take out and divide the dough about 2/3 for the base and leave 1/3 for the top (leave this 1/3 in the fridge). This is just to make sure you don’t over use the dough at the base and then you’re left with nothing on top. Roll out to about 3mm, more than that is too much :). Every time you roll make sure the dough’s not sticking or needs more flour, as it’s very delicate and buttery it tends to do that unless you’re careful. Then cut four squares for each mini pie, and put it on them, lifting the edges and pushing down to make sure it goes into the corners. Push with your fingers gently so it goes into the fluted edges.
5. Now we blind bake at 170C. Cover the dough with cling film, making sure it stays in the corners. Then put your baking beans in (mine are ceramic but using raw chickpeas or any beans works perfect, you just won’t be able to eat them after) and over them with the cling film. Make sure there’s enough to hold the edge in place. This blind baking will make sure that the dough is not soggy after and also minimize shrinkage.
6. Remove the baking beans once the edges are slightly golden and it’s dry inside.
7. Then it goes in again for about 10min until it’s completely golden.
8. For the filling, mix everything and let macerate for at least 15-20min.
9. Roll out for the top to about 2mm. I used a lattice cutter, but you can cut strips and arrange them on top as you wish :). For the lattice cutter, you push down going back and forth in small movements, until you have enough length.
10. Fill the cooled down tart shells with the blackberries, then put the lattice on top while stretching it so you can see the blackberries inside. Cut the extra edges and stick them with your fingers to the edge of the shell.
11. Then brush the top with a bit of butter and sprinkle granulated sugar on top. Then it goes into the oven at 180C for 15-20min or until nicely golden.
12. Let cool completely at least 4 hours before eating so that the juices go back into the blackberries and dough. And you’re done! You can sprinkle with icing sugar if you want and I advise to reheat them in the oven before eating and top it with vanilla ice cream 😉
I hope you like these pies! They are amazingly tasty and are guaranteed to make the autumn lover in you very very happy. Bon appetit!
So pretty!
Thank you 🙂