If you’re lucky enough to discover purple raspberries, a crossbreed of red and black raspberries, use 100 percent purple raspberries and omit the lemon juice. If you find black raspberries, you can get the same effect by using half black raspberries, half red, and reducing the lemon juice to one tablespoon.
Unless you can get ripe, local produce, journalist Megan McArdle suggests using frozen berries, which would have been picked at peak ripeness and immediately flash-frozen, while the “fresh” berries in your supermarket have been picked green and shipped. If using frozen berries, add an extra teaspoon of cornstarch.
The crust can be tightly wrapped and refrigerated for up to 3 days and frozen for up to 2 months. The assembled, unbaked pie can be frozen for up to 1 month.
The crust needs to be made at least 4 hours in advance.
From journalist Megan McArdle.
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Ingredients
measuring cupServings: 8-10 (makes one 9-inch pie)
For the crust
For the pie
Directions
Step 1
Make the crust: Chill the butter and shortening or lard in the freezer for 10 minutes (but no longer).
Step 2
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the all-purpose flour, cake flour and salt until thoroughly blended
Step 3
Distribute the butter and shortening chunks evenly across the flour. Pulse the processor 4 to 6 times, looking carefully after the fourth pulse, until the butter pieces are the size of lima beans.
Step 4
When the flour mixture looks right, pulse the food processor while pouring in the ice water in one continuous stream. Pulse for another second, and then stop.
Step 5
Reach in and feel the mixture: If some parts are dry while others quite wet, gently aerate with your fingers until dry and wet feel more evenly distributed.
Step 6
Pulse again for another 2 to 3 seconds, until the mixture just starts to clump. When in doubt, stop, open the top and look. You don’t want it to form into one big ball; you just want to see a few sizable clumps forming, no longer than your little finger. If the clumps have not formed, give it another 2-second pulse. If the dough is still not coming together, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and whirl for 2 to 3 seconds. Test with your fingers after each pulse: The mixture should be damp, but not wet.
Step 7
Transfer the dough to a floured board or silicone pastry mat. Take 3 to 4 tablespoons of the dough and gently but firmly press it away from you with the heel of your hand for about 6 inches. You do not want to smear it into an undifferentiated paste; the object is to use just enough pressure to pull it together while stretching out the butter into longer streaks.
Step 8
Repeat the process (called the fraisage) with the remaining mixture, piling the compressed bits of pastry on top of each other. Gently pat the dough into a ball, cut it in half and form each half into a round, flat disk a couple of inches thick. Wrap each disk in wax paper, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 3 days before rolling out. The crusts can also be frozen well-wrapped in wax paper and sealed in a freezer bag for up to 2 months.
Step 9
Make the pie: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees.
Step 10
In a medium bowl, whisk together the the sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. In another medium bowl, toss the berries with the lemon juice so berries are evenly mixed through the mixture and coated in the juice. Add the sugar mixture to the berries and set aside while you roll out your crusts.
Step 11
Roll one of the crust disks into a circle approximately 1 inch bigger than the circumference of the pan. Roll it carefully up onto your rolling pin, then unroll into a 9-inch pie pan. Press gently down into the dish, being careful not to tear. Trim flush with the rim.
Step 12
Pile the berry mixture over the bottom crust, then dot with small pieces of the butter.
Step 13
Roll the other crust disk into a circle large enough to cover the pie. Place the crust over the fruit, then fold the edge over the bottom crust until the rim is exactly flush with the edge of the pan. Seal and crimp the edges. Using a sharp paring knife, cut four 2-inch slits in the crust to vent the steam. (The pie can be frozen at this point for up to 1 month.)
Step 14
Bake the pie for 35 to 45 minutes, until the juice is bubbling up through the crust and the crust is a pale golden brown. The word “bubbling” is important here: the juice may seep through any tears in the crust as it bakes, but the pie isn’t done until you see bubbles, because the mixture needs to boil to set the cornstarch thickener.
Step 15
If the edge of the crust starts to brown faster than the center, shield the edge with a piece of foil.
Step 16
Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack before cutting and serving.
Step 17
NOTE: If working with frozen berries, they should weigh about 156 grams for blackberries or 175 grams for black raspberries.
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Nutritional Facts
Per serving (based on 10)
Calories
374
Fat
18 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Carbohydrates
51 g
Sodium
114 mg
Cholesterol
40 mg
Protein
3 g
Fiber
5 g
Sugar
23 g
This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s advice.
From journalist Megan McArdle.
Tested by Lisa Cherkasky.
Published June 30, 2021
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