Dearest's favorite kind of pie is boysenberry pie. Boysenberries are pretty hard to find though. I haven't been able to find them frozen and have only been able to find them fresh at a one place. There's a pick-your-self ranch about 30 minutes south of us that offers boysenberries and for the past couple years, Dearest and I have picked berries and made pies. The season only lasts 3-4 weeks, so we make it a point to go when it starts. This past weekend, one of my good friends came to visit and we took her on her first berry picking adventure.
It was a gorgeous day!
We started hopping rows to find better berries.
Dearest and my friend comparing the quality of berries.
We took home our goods and got ready to turn them into pies! It was about $13 for 6 pounds of berries.
Here's my Boysenberry Pie Recipe:
Crust
(makes about 10 cupcake sized pies or one 9" pie)
1 cup Crisco shortening
2 & 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup cold water
-mix flour, sugar and salt.
-use a pastry cutter to mix in the shortening until crumbly
-mix with a fork and add just enough water until the dough sticks together and forms a ball
-roll out the dough
Cut the circles about twice as wide as the cupcake openings and line with the pie crust.
Cut circles for the tops or plenty of shapes to act as tops.
Boysenberry Pie Filling
(for a 9" pie)
5 cups of fresh boysenberries, washed and patted dry
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
pinch of nutmeg
3 tbsp quick cooking instant tapioca
pie dough: enough for bottom and top crusts
-preheat oven to 400 degrees
-wash and pat dry the fresh berries
-mix berries with sugar, lemon juice, nutmeg and tapioca
-let sit for 30 minutes
-pour into uncooked pie crust, top with crust and pinch edges to seal
-cut slits in top crust for ventilation
-bake for 15-17 minutes until edges are golden brown for mini pies (for a 9" pie, bake 30 mins, then lightly cover top crust with foil and bake another 20 mins)
Wash and pat dry berries.
Mix ingredients and let sit for 30 mins.
Fill mini pies with berry filling.
Get creative with your tops!
Don't forget to leave steam vents for baking.
Bake mini pies for 15-17 minutes. Allow pies to cool (about 15 minutes).
Twist pies a bit to free them from the muffin tin. You should be able to pull them out easily.
Voila! Mini pies!
I bake a lot of them and pop them in the freezer for easy to heat desserts later on.
That is the cutest darn thing I've ever seen! 'Almost' too pretty to eat :)
ReplyDeleteI've never had boysenberries before, but I have to admit that post left my mouth watering! Maybe I will bake my first pie ever (from scratch at least) in the near future! If I can't find boysenberries, what other berry would you recommend?
They're the perfect serving size. :) Boysenberries are sort of like a mix of blackberries and raspberries. If you can't find them, I'd go with a mix of blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and possibly strawberries. The instant tapioca is key to keeping the filling together. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I have had them before or not? They look like blackberries, so my mouth was watering. Those pies look FANTASTIC! I love the little decorations, you did a fantastic job.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen! I love the little details with baking, even though the pies get eaten pretty quickly. :) They taste pretty similar to blackberries, so it's possible!
ReplyDeleteOMG those look SO GOOD! I LOVE pies so much. I wish I could make them but my crust always comes out lethargic looking. Le sigh...
ReplyDeleteTry this crust recipe- it's pretty fool proof. If it tastes good, who cares what it looks like! ;)
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