Elizabeth's April Pie - Blackberry Raspberry Pie (NOT blueberry FOR SURE!)

If you read my March pie submission, you will know why I made this pie. In short, my friend Carol said that she wanted a pie with "frozen blackberries and raspberries, but definitely not blueberries."

I used the classic America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Illustrated) recipe for pie crust (not the prebaked version that Ann refers to in her March pie post). I did something wrong, though. This is normally a fool-proof recipe that I've used often, but I was too much of a fool this time. I accidentally forgot to add the shortening while the ingredients were in the food processor, so I tried to blend in the shortening while the dough was on the table about ready to be rolled. I should have thrown it all back into the food processor, because the finished product wasn't smooth and flaky as it should have been. It was kind of bumpy like a cobbler. Not the prettiest crust I've seen, but it tasted fine.

I served this pie with vanilla ice cream, and there's no way I could eat more than a bite of the pie without it. I don't love cooked berry pies like this, so without the ice cream the flavor is just way too much for me. It was good for one slice, but I left the remaining 3-4 slices with my friends and their kids.

(Not my photo. Too many blueberries.)

The recipe comes from Jenn Hall at Allrecipes.com. I used frozen berries, as some of the recipe reviewers did, and I changed the wording here to account for the type of berries I used.

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cups frozen raspberries
• 2 cups frozen blackberries
• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar and cornstarch. Add blackberries and raspberries; gently toss until berries are coated. Allow fruit mixture to stand for 15 to 30 minutes, or until fruit is partially thawed.
2. Line a 9 inch pie plate with half of the pastry. Stir berry mixture, and transfer to the crust lined pie plate. Top with second crust, and seal and crimp the edge. To prevent overbrowning, cover the edge of the pie with foil.
3. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 50 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Cook's Illustrated Best Pie Dough - Double Crust 8-9 inch

The following pie dough is one in a series for different size pies. When rolling out the dough, roll to a thickness of about 1/8-inch thick (about the thickness of two quarters).

2 1/4	cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1	teaspoon table salt
2	tablespoons granulated sugar
11	tablespoons unsalted butter , cold, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
7	tablespoons vegetable shortening , chilled
4 - 5	tablespoons ice water

1. Mix flour, salt and sugar in food processor fitted with steel blade. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture, tossing to coat butter with some flour. cut butter into flour with five 1-second pulses. Add shortening and continue cutting in until flour is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal with butter bits no larger than small peas, about four more 1-second pulses. Turn mixture into medium bowl.

2. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of ice water over mixture. With blade of rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix. Press down on dough with broad side of spatula until dough sticks together, adding up to 1 tablespoon more ice water if dough will not come together. Shape dough into two balls with your hands, one slightly larger than the other. Flatten into 4-inch-wide disks. Dust lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling.