Remember at Grandma’s when she made a pie? It looked perfect and was 100% homemade. When you at the first bite, the sweet filling oozed. The crust crumbled into your mouth allowing you to taste the toasted butter holding it together. The filling was always perfect, never too sweet or too sour. Never too much cinnamon or cream. Be it a filled or custard pie, the topping was as every bit well thought of as the inside. A nice scoop of vanilla ice cream or a meringue top. Sometimes just a beautiful lattice of crust.

Pies are a simple item of food, yet so complex. They can be filled with a variety of fillings and yet, they’re all known to us as a pie. Pies make me reminisce about when I was younger at Thanksgiving. It was always important to have an apple pie and a pumpkin pie in my family. In fact, pies were never a large part of my desserts except when I was with grandmothers. They’re somewhat of a lost art as cupcakes and fro-yo take the center stage currently for dessert. This pie is complex in flavor, but not in time or skill to make it. It won’t have the same large amounts of sugar and butter as grandma’s, but it will still warm you heart and soul. (No worries, I haven’t completely eliminated calories) So grab a fork, close your eyes, and remember this lost art of pie making. Can’t you just smell grandma’s house?

 

Blackberry Pie

• 1 1/4  cup(s) flour
• 7  teaspoon(s) butter
• 3  tablespoon(s) ice water
• 2  pint(s) blackberries
• 1/8  cup(s) sugar
• 5  large basil leaves, chopped

Directions:

Heat oven to 350F.

For the crust, combine the flour and butter in a mixer or blender. Beat until well combined. It works best for the butter to be cold, so if you have time and remember, stick it in the freezer for 20 minutes beforehand. Slowly add the ice water while butter and flour are mixing. The mixture will look “crumbly” and that’s okay.                     

Flour a pie pan and press the crust into the pan. Cook crust for 10 minutes.                     

Spread a thin layer of blackberries and sprinke with basil and sugar. Add the rest of the blackberries and cover again with basil and sugar. Don’t press down on the fruit, it should be whole at this point. Place in over for 10 minutes.                

When 10 minutes are up, remove pie and softly with a fork compress berries together. This allows them to pack nicely without becoming a watery, soupy mess. Place back in oven and cook for 15 more minutes.

Remove and let cool. Before slicing or topping.

 

Nutrition Facts (per serving)                                                   

Calories    153                                                  

Percentage Fat 21.8

Total Fat (g) 3.7                    

Percentage Carbohydrates 71.2

 

Blackberry Mousse

• 8  ounce(s) whipping cream
• 2  tablespoon(s) cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 3  tablespoon(s) Agave
• 4  ounce(s) blackberries

 

Directions:

Place whipping cream in mixture and begin to beat on low. Slowly add cocoa powder.

Once combined, add agave.

Lightly crush blackberries until in small pieces and sauce.

When cream is almost completely set, add the blackberries. Do not add beforehand as they will ruin the consistency!

You can eat mixture as is or freeze. I prefer frozen to add upon pies as shown above.

                       

                     

Nutrition Facts(per serving)                                                   

Calories    75                                                             

Percentage Fat 85.7

Total Fat (g) 7.14                   

Percentage Carbohydrates 11.5