I had so many berries, desperate measures were needed. I made this pie twice over consecutive weekends. Once to experiment and the second time for company.
I am not a recipe developer – I just love pie and make a lot of it. This is the result of reading about 20 recipes plus my experience of things I’ve tried and liked.
I use this crust recipe.
For the filling I mixed raspberries, blueberries, and Marionberries and erred in favor of more blueberries. I have found that too many raspberries makes it too seedy.
I aimed for about 6 cups of berries for a 9 1/2 inch pie.
Mix all the berries and add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 t. cinnamon and a good squeeze of lemon juice. 1-2 T.
The first time I added a bit of lemon zest — maybe 1/2 t. The second time I added a bit of orange zest — maybe 1/2 t. I think you could get away with a heavier hand on this depending on how you like it
Finally, I mixed with baking tapioca. The first time I used a 1/2 cup and it seemed like a lot so the second time I used 1/3 cup and it seemed better. Then I let the prepared filling sit for at least 30 minutes.
While the fruit was resting I made a bottom crust and blind baked at 375 for about 15 minutes. When I took it out, I sprinkled about 2 oz. of chopped dark chocolate in the warm crust and let it melt a little bit and then used a little spatula to spread the chocolate in a thin layer over the bottom. Resist the urge to overdo the chocolate. It’s really best as just a hint with the fruit.
When that was done I added the fruit and made the top crust. I have never added a top crust to a blind baked bottom before. I was sure how much it would “seal” so I just did my best and then made those giant slashes to give the berry juice plenty of room to bubble out so it wouldn’t come out the sides. It seems like it worked.
Also I should note that I had a timer malfunction so it was left in a tad too long. It tasted fine.
Let it cool before slicing. It’s really delicious — the chocolate is a nice surprise taste with the berries. I stored in the fridge.