Streusel Topped Blackberry Pie

(source art.co.uk)

I just love this time of year when the hedgerows over here in the UK are filled to overflowing with wild blackberries, or brambles as they are called over here.  In September you don't have to go very far to find blackberries, even here in the very urban area in which I live now, the hedgerows are filled with them, and indeed even our own hedge in the back garden as some in it.  When we were down south in Kent, surrounded by orchards, there was an abundance of them and we often picked them and froze them for the winter


 When I lived on the banks of the Georgian Bay in Southern Ontario a number of years back I often went foraging for Blackberries in the autumn . . . the farmhouse we lived in was very near to the actual bay . . . and the hillside leading down to the bay was covered with these beautiful deep purple beauties.  One needed to wear long sleeves and long trousers to pick them to keep from being scratched to death . . . but the rewards was an abundance of blackberry jellies and beautiful blackberry pies such as this fabulous one here, copied down into my Big Blue Binder during those very years . . . a gift from a friend at church, named Pat.



It's my favorite blackberry pie recipe, not the least because it's made with these delicious autumn berries . . . not even because it holds many happy memories for me . . . it isn't even the streusel topping which makes it my favorite . . .  I think, it's the combination of all three things.

That can't be bad.  Happy memories, beautiful berries, crumbly topping . . . tasty pie.



Streusel Topped Blackberry Pie
Makes one 9 inch pie
Printable Recipe

You can use store-bought blackberries for this delicious pie if you wish, but I prefer to use the wild ones picked from the bramble hedges. They seem to have so much more flavour, and I suppose the effort one has to make in order to acquire them makes them taste all the better . . .

prepared pie crust to line the bottom of a nine inch pie dish
(ready made or make your own)
1/2 cup of caster sugar
2 1/2 TBS of cornflour
pinch of salt
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
the juice of 1 lemon
1 pound of fresh blackberries
For the streusal Topping:
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3/4 cup of  flour
1 TBS water
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup of butter softened

Preheat the oven to 205*C/425*F.
Make the streusal topping by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl until crumbly. Set aside.

Roll out the pastry to about 1/8 inch thick and about 12 inches in diameter. Carefully transfer it to your pie tin. Trim the edges to about a 1/2 inch over hang. Fold this under until even with the rim of the pie dish all around and then flute the edge decoratively.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornflour, salt, lemon juice and lemon zest. (I only use un-waxed lemons. Who wants to eat wax. If you don't have un-waxed lemons wash them really well in soapy water to remove the wax coating. I have a micro plane that I used for zesting. It does a lovely job!) Put the blackberries in a bowl and pour this mixture over them, tossing them gently to coat. Try not to crush the berries too much. Let them sit for about fifteen minutes and then, giving them a final gentle toss, pour the whole mixture into the prepared and waiting crust. Sprinkle the top evenly with the streusal mixture. You will most likely have too much, but that's ok. Just freeze what you don't use in a zip lock bag to bring out and use another time. It goes great on muffins, coffee cakes and other things.

Place on a cookie sheet that you have lined with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes until the filling is all bubbly and the streusal all crunchy and golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack before serving. We like to have it warm with big scoops of cold vanilla ice cream.