38 AUGUST 2019
H
A
N
D
B
O
O
K
Black-and-Blue Pie with
Brown Sugar Crumb
ACTIVE 30 MIN; TOTAL 6 HR 15 MIN
SERVES 8“Preheat your oven for at least 20 minutes,”
says Rucker. “If you put a pie into an oven
that isn’t hot enough, the butter will melt
before it has time to set into the dough.”
Other tips? For juicy—but never runny—
berry pie, Rucker crushes a single large
handful of the berry filling to help create
the perfect saucy consistency. Huckleber-
ries and blackberries create the namesake
black-and-blue filling, but a mix of any
brambleberries and blueberries will do. A
crumb topping adds texture and helps
absorb some of the pie’s juice, allowing it
to slice cleanly.1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4^1 / 4 oz.),
plus more for work surface(^1) / 2 cup cold unsalted butter (4 oz.), cut
into^1 / 2 -inch pieces
(^1) / 2 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
(about 2 oz.)
(^1) / 4 cup packed dark brown sugar
11 / 4 tsp. kosher salt, divided
(^1) / 2 Flaky All-Butter Pie Dough (recipe
p. 36)
12 oz. fresh huckleberries or blueberries
12 oz. fresh blackberries, boysenberries,
or marionberries
(^3) / (^4) cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Very cold heavy cream, for serving
- Combine flour, butter, oats, brown
sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium
bowl. Pinch and smear butter between
your fingers until mixture is sandy and
butter is evenly incorporated. Chill until
ready to use. - Preheat oven to 375°F with oven rack in
lower third of oven. Unwrap chilled dough
disk, and place on a lightly floured work
surface. (If dough has been chilled more
than 8 hours, let stand at room tempera-
ture 10 to 15 minutes.) Roll into a 12-inch
round. Transfer to a 9-inch pie pan with a
lip; use your fingertips to relax dough into
shape of pan. Trim dough, leaving a 1-inch
overhang around edge of dish. Fold edge
of dough under itself. Use your thumb
and forefinger to crimp edge of dough,
pressing crimp into pan and ensuring
dough extends to outer edge of dish.
(This anchors the pie crust, which results
in a proud crown of crust after baking.)
Freeze crimped dough, uncovered, until
very cold, about 20 minutes. - Line crust with heavy-duty aluminum
foil, leaving 1^1 / 2 inches of overhang. Trace
fingertips over foil overhang, gently
pressing into crimp. Fill foil-lined crust
with pie weights or dried beans. Bake in
preheated oven until crust is light golden
around edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove
pie weights and foil; prick bottom of crust
all over with a fork. Return to oven, and
bake at 375°F until bottom of crust is
lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer
to a wire rack to cool completely, about
30 minutes. While crust cools, reduce
oven temperature to 350°F.- Toss together berries, granulated
sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and
remaining^1 / 4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl
until berries are coated. Squeeze about 1
handful of berries, breaking them open.
Stir in juices and smashed fruit. (This
helps to create a sauce by introducing a
small amount of berry juices to filling
before baking.)
5. Spoon berry filling into cooled crust.
Sprinkle with chilled crumb topping,
sprinkling all the way to edge of crust.
Place pie in oven. (If desired, slide an
aluminum foil–lined baking sheet onto
oven rack below pie to catch any drips.)
Bake at 350°F until filling is bubbling,
about 1 hour and 30 minutes, shielding
edges with foil after 25 minutes to prevent
excess browning, if necessary. Transfer
pie to a wire rack, and let cool completely,
about 3 hours. Serve pie slices with cold
heavy cream for drizzling.
“The contrast of cold
cream and warm pie is
special, and alarmingly
different than whipped
cream,” says Rucker.
“It feels strangely more
indulgent to just pour
cream over pie.”