My Favorite Blackberry Pie

I crave this all summer long. Blackberry pie!!!! My favorite. When I was little my grandparents had a cabin on a small private island in the Puget Sound called Hat Island. My cousins, my sister and I would spend a week in the summer there. One of my fondest memories of that place is picking blackberries with my grandpa, we would bring them back to grandma and she would make the best pie.
We have a ton of wild blackberry bushes near my house so I took the boys out picking today. Unfortunately with only a short time of summer heat and ALOT of rain the berries are going bad as quickly as they are ripening. We were lucky  to get enough for a pie. I dont know what I would do without a fresh blackberry pie this year!


Filling:
4 cups fresh blackberries
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp vanilla
1 TB lemon juice

In a large bowl place the blackberries and add in the vanilla, cinnamon and lemon juice.











Sprinkle on the flour and sugar

Gently toss to combine and set aside.












Onto the Crust. This one is fantastic and makes a nice THICK crust!

Crust:

3 cups all purpose flour(gently spoon into measuring cup to keep it fluffy)

1 1/4 cups COLD butter flavor shortening (CRISCO, generic yields far inferior results)

1 TB white vinegar

3 TB sugar

1 tsp salt

1 beaten egg

4 TB ICE water

The BEST way to do pie crust is in a food processor. The key to really good crust is SPEED and keeping everything cold.  Using a processor gets everything cut in very quickly and eliminates the heat of your hands.

Place the flour, sugar, salt and shortening in the processor and pulse until it resembles pea sized gravel.
Add in vinegar and beaten egg and pulse quickly again.

Begin adding in water 1 TB at a time until it all forms together....YOU MAY NOT NEED IT ALL.
When it holds together turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half.











 Cover and place 1 half in the fridge while you roll out the first half.

I do my crusts between 2 pieces of floured wax paper. It prevents sticking on my rolling pin and makes transfer a SNAP.

Roll out to about 1 inch larger than your pie plate(I use a deep dish 9 inch plate)
Remove top piece of wax paper and transfer to your plate.

GENTLY remove wax paper and form the dough to the plate. Dont trim the sides yet.
Poke a few holes with the tines of a fork around the bottom and sides.

Place your filling into the prepared plate.
Place 1 TB cold butter cut into chunks randomly over the filling.










Roll out your second batch of dough and place it over the top. Trim/Seal/Tuck your dough edges.


Make several slits for ventilation. Brush with beaten egg white or milk and sprinkle with a little more sugar.









Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375, and bake for another 20-25 minutes until golden and bubbly. Try not to open the oven if you dont have to

Edges browning too quickly?? Cut a circle out of foil and cover them up!
Just in case of leaks put a sheet of foil on the rack below your pie..