Fresh Old-Fashioned Blackberry Pie

/ Jodi

Fresh Blackberry Pie Slice

Last night, I made my favorite old-fashioned homemade pie.

Fresh Blackberry Pie.

Baking this pie brings me joy for so many reasons…

fresh blackberries

It reminds me of hot summer days spent at Grandma’s house where she did her best to tame the wild blackberry bushes that framed the edge of the woods that surrounded her house.

I remember picking them with her (begrudgingly at the time) and eating more than I put in the bucket or bowl I was assigned to filling.

Fresh Blackberry Pie Slice 2

I remember the way the house…

and the porch…

and even the yard smelled when the pies were baking as fans were blowing and windows were wide open in Grandma’s non air-conditioned home.

I can picture her wiping her brow with the tea towel that was on her shoulder…

I can hear the joy in Grandpap’s voice when he came home from work and smelled it too.

Fresh Blackberry Pie 2

Any time I bake a pie, it also brings back warm memories of my mother-in-law and time spent with her and my sister-in-law and the entire family as we made dozens of pies in assembly-line fashion.

I recall the guys sitting on the porch pitting cherries or peeling apples or blanching peaches or cleaning berries while us girls were in the basement mixing filling and rolling out crusts.

My mother-in-law is the one that taught me the secret and magic to the perfect pie crust, and it is one of the things that hubby brags on me about.  It always makes me smile when I think of this simple pleasure.

Fresh Blackberry Pie Slice 3

And then there is the joy my family expresses when eating a perfect pie that makes my heart soar.

I have to admit, I had two bites before asking who would finish my piece (still trying to lose 20 more pounds!), and it was GLORIOUS!  Might have even been worth skipping dinner for!

blackberries

It took me about a week to pick enough berries to make this pie.

You see, you have to try to beat the birds and the deer and the rabbits and all the other critters that also love these sweet and tart bursts of summer sunshine when they ripen.

And then you have to battle the thorns and the poison ivy that seems to love to grow in the same area as the berry bushes.

Fresh Blackberry Pie

I collected them by the handful on walks to the mailbox or around the yard.

I would then lay them on a cookie sheet and flash freeze them, toss in a Ziploc bag after frozen, and wait until I had enough to make this glorious pie.

And it is SO WORTH IT!

Have you ever made a fresh homemade old-fashioned wild blackberry pie?  If not, I so urge you to give it a try.

I’m guessing your family will thank you, and I’m also guessing you may just begin creating some pretty amazing memories for them like I have when I recall some very special family times from my past.

Fresh Old-Fashioned Blackberry Pie

Ingredients:Fresh Blackberry Pie Slice

  • 4 cups fresh wild blackberries (or frozen if not available)
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3 1/2 Tbsp Minute Tapioca
  • Dash of salt
  • 1/2 Fresh Lemon (juiced)
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Double Crust Recipe (See our “Secret Family Pie Crust Recipe” here)
  • 2 Tbsp milk
  • 1 Tbsp sugar

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  • Prepare Pie Crust. 
  • Line 9 inch pie pan with bottom crust.
  • In large bowl, mix blackberries, sugar, tapioca, salt and lemon juice.
  • Pour berry mixture into pie pan.
  • Dot with butter.
  • Cover with top lattice crust.
  • Brush with milk, and sprinkle sugar over top crust.
  • Cover edge of pie with strips of foil to prevent crust from burning.
  • Bake for 45-50 minutes or until berry mixture begins to bubble up in between top lattice crust.  (Remove foil for last 10 minutes of baking to brown edges.

Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

 

42 thoughts on “Fresh Old-Fashioned Blackberry Pie”

  7. I remember those berry patches well……I also remember how my legs were so scratched up from the foraging. And the poison ivy everywhere!! Showers with fels naphtha and cotton balls loaded with calamine lotion……I was a mess …but your Grandma’s pies made it all worth the pain ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🐝

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    • Oh yes – that basement shower and fels naptha soap! 🙂 Joyce – is this you? Did you complain about doing it as much as me? 🙂 And eat more than you saved? How I fondly look back on those days. xo

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  10. Yummy post! Glad you have such sweet memories. Back in Michigan when my son and daughter were very young I would walk them through the woods or around the edge of the yard, popping hundreds of these delicious berries in bowls to be washed and ate as a snack. Better than a candy bar for sure.

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  12. Yummmm, it looks so delicious! I didn’t get to see your post until just now, I had an early appointment this morning to see the doc.

    I have never made nor ate a blackberry pie. Blackberries are not found around here. Maybe someday I will try and make one. But they are neveras good when using the frozen ones.

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  14. Your photos have me drooling here! YUM! Blackberries aren’t common in my area. I did go and pick some one summer at a farm near my house. I admit there is nothing like a fresh blackberry! I grew up picking raspberries that my parents grew. Loved hearing your memories with your grandma. You are a good writer and baker and artist and photographer! WOW! You ROCK Jodi! 🌟🌟🌟

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  18. The images are gorgeous! The pie looks mouth watering. At the side of my Mother’s old house(before she retired to FL) was a creek that was lined with wild blackberries. We picked many buckets full over the years, and ate just as many I bet. We made pies, and jam, and sometimes the jam wasn’t set up right so we had ice cream sauce instead. The pies were always delicious. My mother’s crust is always better than mine though. She’s the baker, I’m a better cook. 🙂

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  19. Ugh! Jodi, I just made the Money B-day cake this week getting ready for the party at end of month and now I’m going to HAVE to try this…..it looks delectable….I too am known for pies in our family but I’ve never done a blackberry one! Thanks!

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  21. Isn’t it funny how we associate special memories with food? I am the same way, and love to make my moms recipes….I feel closer to her in the kitchen than any other place. I loved reading about your memories, and well of course the pictures of the pie..YUM! Looks like a great recipe!

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    • it is Laurie – what is your favorite recipe of your mom’s? that is exactly how I feel about my grandma… just a smell will evoke a fond memory 🙂

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  22. Pingback: The Blackberry – Up Close and Personal | life in between

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