Berries are fragile, which is why we love them so much off the bush or in a bowl. But there are a couple of things to keep in mind once you decide to cook them, like in a pie. First. Often they are less sweet than you imagine, even when they are perfectly ripe. Don’t confuse the full berry flavor with sweetness. Second. Blueberries tend to need some acid to brighten the flavor and even blackberries can use some for balance.
Third. I believe in adding some starch to thicken fruit pies. I don’t want berry juice to run all over the plate. I want to get it into my mouth. That is the role of starch as a thickener. When I comes to berries I like the visual clarity I get from cornstarch or instant clear gel (another kind of modified starch). However I also love the pastry like flavor that wheat flour lends to fillings. So I do a combo.
Some folks drain off the juices that collect once the berries are sweetened and cook that juice with a bit of thickener, then add it back to the berries then continue on with the pie. I don’t. I like the simpler approach of putting the filling raw into the pie and letting both crust and filling cook together. There might be a tiny bit more of a fiddly learning curve to get the filling just right for you, but I think the end result is better.
If you want to read more about my emotional pie connection take a look a my Pie Page on this site. You can also find out about my Pie-a-Day App and my in-depth on line Craftsy.com class for making the best crust and putting the whole pie together. The Craftsy.com class is on sale now. Here’s a link for you.
