Monday, January 16, 2012

Definitely not the belle of the ball

So I have been meaning to make Dewberry Pie, one NN's family favorites, with the tons of dewberries that I have in the freezer.  You see every year my mother-in-law goes to see the Man from Needville, as NN's grandmother calls him, and picks up our dewberries for the year.  With moving, etc last year I guess I just did not make as many as I have in years past.  A dewberry is similar to a blackberry, but sweeter making it perfect for pies, cobblers and jams.

I use NN's grandmother's recipe typically, which is very simple, and yields more of a cobbler than a pie.  I decided to this time to try something a little different and come up with a more pie-like consistency.  I am prefacing this with the fact that a) I am not a decent photographer on a good day, and this was late at night, and b) this is definitely the ugliest pie I have ever made to date.  The detailed recipe is listed at the bottom.



I start with the usual crust players and cut in the butter and shortening until it is a meal-like texture.  I may have cheated a little on this one because it is not as uniform as it should be.


Next I added about 4 Tbsp of water to get the dough to hold together.


These are dewberries.  They have more of lighter color than blackberries.


I then mixed the dewberries with tapioca, sugar, and cinnamon, and let them sit.


After the dough has chilled for a a little bit, then I took it out and rolled it into what some might call circles.


I placed one of my so-called circles in a pie plate.


Then I added the dewberry mixture that had been patiently waiting for this moment.


Next I added the top circle and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar because NN will not eat the pie unless it has a crunchy sugary layer.  Again not the prettiest thing, but keep reading.


The finished project.  No I did not burn the top, that is just the way the cinnamon turns out.


Here is the inside that actually came out with a nice pie consistency.  In previous pie attempts the inside was flat out runny and the pie would get soggy after a few days.  With that said NN said he liked this, but that he wanted it runnier.  I am guessing that adding less tapioca will yield the desired results.


This was NN's second piece!  I think I should change the name of my blog to Function over Form because that seems to be my baking outcome lately!



Dewberry Pie


CRUST
2C Flour
1t Salt
1/2C Butter (1 stick)
1/2C Shortening
4T Ice Water

FILLING
4C Dewberries, or Blackberries
1C Sugar
1/8-1/4C Tapioca  (I used 1/4 this time, but for runnier I will use 1/8)
1t cinnamon

For the crust begin by mixing the flour, salt, butter, and shortening until it has a meal-like texture.  I used a pastry blender to help me with this task.  Next add ice water to help bind the flour mixture.  Divide the dough into 1/3 (top) and 2/3 (bottom), wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

For the filling mix all of the above ingredients together in a bowl and let sit for about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Once the dough is chilled, roll out the 2/3 section for the bottom on a lightly floured surface.  Use your rolling pin to help you out the crust into the pie plate.  Next add the berry mixture to the pie shell.  Roll out the remaining pie dough and place on top of the pie.  Seal the edges in whatever fashion you prefer, and then cut slits in the top to vent the steam.  The final step is to add sugar and cinnamon to the top.

Bake the pie for about 35-45 minutes until the top is golden brown.  You may also want to place a pan under the pie just in case it boils over.  Enjoy!




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