Bring on the Blackberries!

I love berries of all shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors. Blackberries, the plump, tartly sweet ones, are impossible for me to resist. Especially when I find them growing in my back yard. Rose's blackberry pie is the most straightforward pie I've come across in my Pie and Pastry Bible adventures.

Filling: The filling consists of fresh blackberries, mixed with mixed with sugar, cornstarch and lemon. I love me some zesty lemony goodness, so I added 3 tablespoons of zest, as opposed to the 2 tsp called for. There's no macerating and cooking down of juices, no cooking of half the berries. Aside from her pie crust construction instructions, this pie is a snap.

Crust: Rose recommends that you go with her "Basic Flaky Pie Crust" for this one, so with the abovementioned snap-icity in mind, I decided to get creative with crust decorations.

Verdict: This is a juicy, bubbly-over-type pie that comes out of the oven looking like a mess of berries exploded. ...Which is to say it looks so very tasty. Served with vanilla ice cream, its deep purple deliciousness is a thing of beauty.