What a truly pretty pretty pie! Major hit. And just in time for summer entertaining (or just for you or your family). Sylvie LOVED it – especially the graham cracker crust. Lauren ate only the crust (oye). But Andy – my chocolate loving son – was starving and asked for a bite which was surprising since he’s never been a pie (and custard) guy and he said, “mmmm….so good!” Very exciting for me (although he didn’t choose it for dessert that night.) Anyway – success, even with Rob who is not much of a pie guy either. Alisa, Mike, Ali, Jonathan, and me – well, we all really loved this. I keep repeating myself but not much more to say. The creamy tart sour cream filling paired with the sweetened cooked blackberries and the awesome graham crust – well – you can imagine. This pie is easy since it is really almost like a cheese cake baked in a pie plate. No dough to roll out and the custard easily bakes in the oven with out
any trouble. It is impressive looking with beautiful purple hues and lovely in its varied texture. Perfect for company some time soon. Enjoy this-
This is not difficult but there are a few different steps. Just organize yourself and plan – and you will see that it will come together quite easily.
blackberry sour cream pie (slightly adapted from Pie Pie Pie by John Phillip Carroll):
graham cracker crust-
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
2-3 pinches kosher salt
1/2 cup (one stick) melted unsalted butter
sour cream custard layer–
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
blackberry topping-
1/2 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries (do not thaw frozen blackberries)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Make the graham cracker crust. Place the crumbs, sugar and salt in a small bowl and add the melted butter and mix to combine. Transfer crumb mixture to a 9 inch pie pan (FYI, I think mine was 8 inches which was OK, although I wasn’t able to use all of the custard filling) and press firmly into the pan – making sure to keep it even and smooth. Press the crumbs up the sides of the pan – to the top.
Bake 8-10 minutes – until golden and firm. Set aside to cool completely. You can make this earlier in the day, or the day before you plan to bake the pie.)
Preheat the oven again to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and salt. Pour the mixture into the cooled pie shell and carefully place in the lower third or middle of the oven. (If you have too much custard, don’t overfill pie. You can place the extra in a ramekin – with some berries and bake in a water bath if you’d like an extra treat. Or just toss the extra if you have.)
Bake for about 34-39 minutes – until the filling doesn’t have a liquidy jiggle when you shake it a bit. The custard should look set but wet. Remove from the oven and cool to room temp. You can also place in the refrigerator at the is point for several hours (if you choose) before adding the berry topping.
Berries next. In a medium saucepan, over medium high heat, boil the sugar and water, stirring a bit to help the sugar dissolve. Reduce the heat to low and and add the berries. Cook gently for about 5 minutes until they soften and some of the juice is released.
In a small cup – mix together the cornstarch and water. Whisk well. Add to the berry mixture on stove – let boil gently for about a minute – until the topping is slightly thickened. Place in a shallow bowl (to speed up the cooling process) – and let sit and cool, stirring occasionally and very gently.
Once cool, spoon the berry sauce and berries over the cooled custard spreading it all over the pie. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight and slice and serve.
Enjoy!
