Oregon Blackberry Pie

Oregon Blackberry Pie (aka Marionberry) is some good stuff. The northwest has some of the best berries on the planet; and we are known for our marionberries!  Picking berries and preserving for autumn pies is a must, which I am sure you all agree. In regards to the frozen berries, I have developed a technique so you don’t lose a drop of juice or a single berry. The instructions for baking pies with frozen berries is included with the recipe below.

Oregon Blackberry Pie is one of our family favorites; lucky for them they have the pie lady.  Now, even though fresh berries are stunning in their own right, there’s ne ingredient that I believe is crucial. Citrus! Citrus really accentuates the flavor those luscious berries. My favorite combination is little lemon and orange juice. The juices brightens the flavor without overpowering; and of course, there’s just enough sugar to sweeten.

The freezer makes the berries fragile; hence they do need to be treated differently. First, Measure the berries for the pie while still frozen, maybe adding an extra 1/2 cup. As the berries thaw, the berry juice will separate and by all means save it all! The juice is cooked into a goo with the same ingredients as baking a fresh pie. As I mentioned above, the full instructions are in the notes below.

You can also use the same technique for fresh berries. However, to draw out the juice you need to mix the sugar with the berries and let them sit for about 30 minutes or more. Then proceed with the frozen berry pie instructions. From a fresh or frozen state this ensures your pie will taste EXACTLY the same. Cool, right? Right!

Look at these beautiful little berry beasts with a scoop of vanilla; breathtaking.

As I didn’t want to bake the designed top too long, I pre-simmered the filling for about 15 minutes. This will cut down the baking time for 25 to 30 minutes. The pre-cooked filling also helps the designed from “sinking” in while the berries bubble up.

Using 3 to 4 different sizes of cookie cutters for the flowers will allow you to use your artistic flair. By all means, change it up, this is just my design. Regardless of what design you choose, there is no wrong way. As I have always said to my children when creating, it really only matters if YOU like it. The results will be (and are) deliciously stellar.

If you need gluten free crust, click here for the pie lady’s gluten free flour mix and crust instructions. To create this design with gluten free the dough needs to be rolled out onto parchment and frozen for about 20 minutes before cutting. Gluten free tears too easily when at room temp (see details in recipe notes).

I made a braid in 3 sections, conveniently placing flowers over the seams.

Also, I always make a few extra flowers just in case one of them bites the dust during baking. Bake the extra flower cut outs for only 10 to 15 minutes at 375 f.

Freeze for at least 1 hour, brush the egg wash on, and re-freeze for at least another 30 minutes. After it’s completely frozen carefully peel off the parchment and place onto the pie plate. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 375 F.

Rev yourself up with the berry power; a nice warm slice of berry heaven a la mode. Happy baking pie peeps! I will be watching to see what creations you come up with! And do try to save that last slice for yourself!

Print Recipe

Oregon Blackberry (aka Marionberry)

Oregon has some of the best berries on the planet! Fresh picked sweet-tart blackberries baked in a super flaky crust: Very Berry-licious indeed.

Author: Portlandia Pie Lady

Ingredients

Berry Filling

• 5 cups marionberries (blackberries, tayberries, etc.) (see notes below when using thawed frozen berries)
• 1 tablespoon orange juice**
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice**
• Zest of 1/2 medium sized orange**
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup pure cane granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup Clearjel food starch or tapioca starch or corn starch
• Couple of dashes of salt
• 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water for egg wash

Grandma's Pie Crust (for 9-inch double crust)

• 2 cups all purpose flour (for gluten free, use gluten free flour mix, see notes below on cutting flowers)
• 1 cup vegetable shortening or butter (if butter is cold cut into very small pieces)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup cold water

Instructions

Pie Crust: 9-inch crust

• Place all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
• Using a large fork or pastry cutter, cut in the shortening (or butter) into dry ingredients until there are crumbly pea-sized pieces.
• Add the cold water all at once and mix just until forms a ball (do not kneed or over mix).
• Divide dough in half (this will be rather soft). Roll out one half on heavily floured counter top about 1 to 1-1/2 inches wider than pie plate. Unroll onto pie plate,cut extra dough off edges and crimp. Save other half of dough to roll out and cut shapes for top.

Fresh Berry Filling Directions & Assembly

• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• In a large size bowl, mix dry ingredients together, sugar, starch, salt, and orange zest. (If you decide to flower cookie cutters for the top crust, follow the par/pre-cooking filling instructions below in notes.)
• Add the berries into the dry ingredients with the orange & lemon juices. Gently stir together.
• Pour the filling into the prepare bottom crust and dot with the tablespoon of butter.
• Roll out remainder of pie dough and cut into desired shapes. I used different sizes of flower cookie cutters, first layering on the large flowers and then adding the smaller ones to cover some of the gaps (leaving some spaces open for steam to escape).
• Carefully brush with egg wash, placing flowers/shapes back into place. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of sugar. Bake 375 for 55 to 60 minutes.

Notes

Gluten Free pie crust flowers the dough needs to be frozen and the cutouts need to be kept frozen for placing onto pie.  

Roll the dough onto wax paper, place on baking sheet and freeze for at least 20 minutes.  

Remove from freezer and cut a few flowers at a time, placing the cut outs on a separate piece of wax paper. Place the remaining dough  back into freezer for about 5 minutes in between flower cutouts. 

When you have as many flowers as you need (about 20 to 30 depending on sizes) freeze the cutouts for a good 10 to 20 minutes and place them onto pie in a frozen state.  Bake as above.  

Par/Pre-Cooking filling: 

1. In a large sauce pan, mix dry ingredients together, sugar, starch, salt, and orange zest.  Add the berries into the dry ingredients with the orange & lemon juices, and butter. Gently stir together.  
2. Turn heat to medium-high , gently stirring  so as not to break up the berries too much if possible.  Once it starts to simmer, turn the burner down to medium, keeping the berries simmering.  
3. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.  
4. Pour mixture into prepared pie shell.
5. Brush egg wash on frozen top crust, place on top of pie, sprinkle extra sugar if desired, and bake for 30 minutes @ 375 F. 

Using Thawed Frozen Berries:

1. If berries are completely thawed, place in a large sauce pan.
2. Add the sugar, zest, lemon/orange juice and stir. 
3. Heat the berries and sugar over medium to medium-high heat and let simmer about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, but leave in sauce pan.  
4. Spoon out about 1/2 cup of the liquid into a small bowl, cool in fridge or stir in ice cube until it is melted. Stir the cornstarch into the cooled liquid. 
5. Return the berry filling to the stove top, heat on medium-high and using a flat spatula, slowly add the cornstarch slurry into the berry mixture.
6. Stir bottom and sides of pan as the filling thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes, it will lose the opaque color as it thickens. Remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon butter, stir until melted.
7. Place into prepared pie and bake as directed above.  **Lemon & Orange Juice & Zest
   You may substitute the full juice of one lemon & one-half of a lemon zested and omit orange all together.