Strawberry Blackberry Pie

The produce is so fresh here in SoCal. Eating fresh food is really easy when there is a farmers market in every town nearly every day of the week. I bought a ton of berries last weekend and noticed that there was no way we could eat them all before they went bad. So I made a pie. From scratch.

I like to bake, but pies are tricky. They can be too runny or too jiggly in the middle. They can crack and dry out. They are delicate. And there's the whole crust issue. Pastry dough is finicky and intimidating and I don't like working with it. Everyone else makes it look easy to make your own pie crust, but for me it's not. Making a pie from scratch was sort of a big deal.

The verdict? Ohmygoodness yum! My crust is a little thick, but it's very tasty and I'm just gonna roll it out thinner next time. I ate a fourth of it all by myself last night. This morning I looked 4 months pregnant. It's that good.

The Crust


2 c flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold butter, divided
6 tbsp cold water

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add butter. Using 2 forks or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour until it resembles crumbs. Add water and form a ball. You may need to add more water if the dough is too dry. Just do so 1 tbsp at a time. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes.

The Berry Filling


1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 c fresh blackberries
3 tbsp flour
3/4 c sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
zest of lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon

Combine all ingredients in bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Separate dough into 2 sections. Roll out the pie crust 2 inches larger than pie dish. Place 1 rolled out section in pie dish. Fill with berry mixture. Cover with the 2nd rolled out pie crust. Vent the dough and crimp the edges. Bake at 375 for an hour. Devour!