Michelle Darmody: How to bake a delicious blackberry pie

The pie does not freeze very well but it will last three days in an airtight container in a cool place.

Michelle Darmody's blackberry pie recipe

Purple, inky blackberries are ripening on their scratchy briars this month and next. If you are lucky enough to live near a bramble patch you will be well rewarded for going out with a bowl or bucket to fill. Blackberries are delicious when added into lots of different cakes, bakes and desserts.

They are also the perfect fruit for making jam. Their tartness firms up the jam nicely without the use of too much pectin. Making jam helps to stretch the late summer, early autumn goodness throughout the year.

A spread of blackberry jam on hot buttered toast on a frosty winter morning is a real treat.

Ground almonds add moisture to baked goods as well as a nice nutty flavour. Their high fat content provides richness and helps to prevent the pie from drying out.

The buttery and flaky shortcrust pastry works very well with this softer filling, which needs to be baked until puffed up and golden.

There should be an ever so slight jiggle in the centre when it is removed from the oven because it will firm up more as it cools.

Blackberry Pie

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

The blackberries in this pie bake into purple splodges, embedded within the golden almond-tinted filling.

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• For the pastry

• 140g cold butter, cubed

• Pinch fine sea salt

• 225g plain flour, sieved

• 60g golden caster sugar

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• For the glaze

• 1 egg, beaten

• For the filling

• 60g ground almonds

• 20g plain flour

• 100g golden caster sugar

• 3 eggs

• 2 egg yolks

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 300ml cream

• 480g blackberries

Method

1. To make the pastry, add the salt to the sieved flour and stir them together in a large bowl.

2. Add the cubes of butter and rub them into the flour until it looks like rough breadcrumbs.

3. Stir the sugar into the egg to dissolve it slightly and add this to the flour mixture. Bring it together with your hands until it forms a smooth dough.

4. Wrap the pastry dough in baking parchment and place into the fridge to firm up for about two hours.

5. Preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas 4.

6. Line the base of a 10-inch flan tin with parchment and grease and flour the sides.

7. Roll the pastry into a large disc bigger than the base of your tin.

8. Gently lower it into the prepared tin and nudge it into the shape of the tin.

9. Prick the base all over with a fork.

10. Put a disc of parchment paper into the tart case and fill this with baking beans.

11. Bake the tart case blind for 10 minutes until the edges are barely starting to colour. Remove the beans.

12. Brush the inside of the pastry case with the beaten egg. Place the case back into the oven for another five minutes or until it is golden. Allow to cool completely in the tin.

13. Preheat your oven again to 180ºC/gas 4.

14. Mix the almonds, flour and caster sugar together.

15. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.

16. Whisk the eggs lightly with the egg yolks, vanilla and cream in a separate bowl.

17. Add the wet ingredients into the well in the centre of the dry ingredients.

18. Combine until smooth with the paddle of a mixer or with a wooden spoon.

19. Spread the mixture into the pie base and sprinkle the blackberries on top.

20. Place into the centre of your oven.

21. Bake for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden and the topping is set.

22. Allow to sit in the tin, until cool enough to handle, then place onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Getting into each groove of the fluted sides of a flan tin can be tricky. I find room temperature butter a necessity if you are rubbing it on with some parchment, or you can use melted butter and a pastry brush to get right into the crevices.

Do not stretch the pastry when placing it into the tin. If you pull and stretch it, it will shrink when baking. It is best to ensure it is larger than the tin, then gently place it so it is centred and let it slide into place with a gentle nudge. You can allow a little pastry to overhang around the edges of the tin and then cut this back when the pastry case is just out of the oven and the pastry is still mailable.

If your pastry turns out oily rather than crisp it is probably because it was handled too much during preparation.

Pastry, and all the implements used to make, it should be kept as cool as possible. Use a cold bowl and make sure the butter is straight out of the fridge. Combine the ingredients as quickly as you can and when rolling it try and do so swiftly.

Blind baking the pastry fulfils two objectives, it prevents a soggy bottom and it also stops the pastry from puffing and bubbling up.

Some clean coins can be used in place of the baking beans. Metal coins work well because they heat at the same rate as a metal tart tin below and can ensure that the pastry bakes evenly. But be careful when removing coins, they will be very hot.

Adding a glaze to a blind baked pastry case stops the topping from seeping in and softening the pastry.

Delicious variations

Plum and almond pie

This variety is nice when a splash of brandy is incorporated with the plums. Replace the blackberries with 480g of sliced, de-stoned plums and toss them in two tablespoons of brandy.

Make the rest of the filling as instructed but replace the vanilla extract with one teaspoon of almond essence.

Raspberry and rosewater pie

Add raspberries in place of the blackberries and then make a rosewater syrup to brush over the pie when it comes out of the oven.

It is important to ensure you buy culinary-grade rose water. To make the syrup, boil 100g of caster sugar with 100ml of water for five minutes.

Allow it to cool and stir in two teaspoons of rose water. Brush this over your pie after it has cooled for about 10 minutes.