You might have had strawberry rhubarb pie, but have you tried blackberry rhubarb? This is what happens in summer, when you look at the abundance of gorgeous fresh stuff in your fridge and don’t want to let anything go to waste: pie happens. First, though, you text your family and ask, blackberry & rhubarb: yes or yuck? With Mom’s approval, you proceed.
Then, TEN MINUTE PIE.
Have you all already been making 10-minute pies because you already knew about Pillsbury Pie Crusts? So easy your 7-year-old can make you pie! (Ignore the less-than-sanitary conditions of our prep space ;))
While in Saskatoon a couple weeks ago I decided I should really go live with various families throughout the year and learn their cooking ways. When someone asks me what I cook in a regular week I give them a solid 20 seconds of blank stare, then mumble something about chicken and pizza. It is HARD to remember what we made yesterday, let alone come up with new ideas for tomorrow, amiright?
It was pretty fun to see someone else’s brain work the dinner routine. I got a couple new dinner ideas, and was totally impressed when fresh pies appeared in 10 minutes to go with an amazing dinner. The secret was in the ready-to-go crust. I’ve used pre-made frozen crusts before but never been too happy with them, so I had become a pie snob who only made pie when I had time and interest to commit to making my own crust – it became an annual affair, at best.
But this pie crust didn’t get soggy, browned nicely, AND tasted good! For the record, this is not an ad, Pillsbury has never heard of me :) I had to tell you about them though now that my sister-in-law has enlightened me – they come refrigerated by the crazy explosive Pillsbury crescent rolls and such. They’re ready to use, and can be frozen too. Since I’m more of a crumble-topping type of pie girl, I only did the double crust to really put the crusts to the test, and they passed, so here we are!
Pie is one of Carl’s favourite things, and making a pie filling takes mere minutes with either fresh or frozen fruit, so having good crusts that are this handy could dramatically improve his dessert-eating situation. Blackberry rhubarb also turned out to be just as delicious as strawberry rhubarb – a perfect mix of sweet and tart, just begging for a scoop of ice cream. I think strawberry, blackberry AND rhubarb would also make for a pretty excellent pie.
What have you been using the bounty of summer fruit for? And are you putting those home-for-the-summer kids to good use? It’s the best having helpful-aged helpers around :)
- 1 box (400 g) Pillsbury Pie Crust
- 5 cups blackberries
- 2 cups diced rhubarb
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ tsp almond extract (optional)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- Pinch of salt
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Unroll one pie crust and press into ungreased pie plate. Combine fruit and flour, tossing to coat evenly. Add all remaining ingredients and stir gently to combine. Pour into pie crust and top with remaining pie crust, pinching edges together to seal. Brush top lightly with an egg wash if desired (1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water to increase browning) and cut slits to allow steam to escape.
- Put pie plate on a pizza pan or large baking sheet to catch any drips, then transfer to oven. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake another 30 minutes. Let cool before slicing.
- Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, or both!
The rhubarb pie is one thing that I am trying to perfect for the last two weeks. I’ll try this version and the way how you have made. I hope I perfect it this time.
You know how, when you think about buying, say, a grey Prius, all of a sudden you notice that all over town, there are thousands of people driving around in grey Priuses that you never saw before? Well, this summer I picked a ton of blackberries, and all of a sudden I’m looking at your post as if you’d known I’d done it and were doing me a favor by showing me what to do with them! Thanks!
The pie place at Granville Island makes an amazing raspberry rhubarb pie! I’ve goggled it but never found a good recipe. I’ll try adapting this one… a few less raspberries (too many seeds?)and a bit more rhubarb. Thanks for the recipe and Pillsbury tip! When I make a crust, I feel like I should make at least 4 pies so I can freeze a few…
I will definitely have to try those pie crusts! Dad is also a big fan of pie I love blackberries and strawberries together. Somehow the blackberries seem to enhance the flavour of the strawberries and make them even more amazing! Crostata are my favourite. Less crust
Brilliant! Thanks for the tip.
Sounds and looks delish! Goodbye semi-annual pie making! :)