Berries are on the list of foods that no matter how much you try to convince me of it, I will never believe that they have real nutritional value because they just taste too good to! I love berries of every kind and I get so excited when they start appearing at my local farmer's markets. I also love picking my own berries and am trying my hand at growing a few this summer.
Yesterday on a trip to visit my parents in Virginia, my mom and I found ourselves with a little time on our hands and since neither of us sit at home readily, we set off on a drive in the country with my littlest daughter. There was a beautiful road I remembered driving on many, many years ago and I still treasure the memory of that autumn day so we headed there again. I am so glad we did because we found ourselves at a farm where we thought we could pick blueberries. It turns out the blueberries weren't ready yet but the black raspberries were! Black raspberries! We felt like we had stumbled on a magnificent treasure. The woman who runs the farm said we made it at the perfect time because apparently the harvest is quite short for the berries and only lasts about 15 days. We arrived on day 6 which is peak picking time.
The berries were not my only treasure, though. The time I spent with Mom and Emory was so special and Mom and I talked about how much we both adore little adventures. We are both always eager to head out on paths we have never been on which is likely due to my dad's military career; it made us wanderlust!
The briars and slightly steep hills did not deter us and we picked until we both had about a pound and a half. Our fingers were stained a gorgeous shade of purple by the time we left which didn't bother either of us a bit. As we pulled off the farm, we were both trying to figure out exactly what we wanted to do with our beautiful berries and agreed that whatever it was, it needed to be special. No quick cobblers for these babies!
On our drive home to Tennessee today, Mom texted me the recipe she had decided on: black raspberry ice cream. I think I knew all along that mine were destined for pies.
I recently bought a pack of mini pie tins from Amazon and have loved using them this summer for my tomato pies. Here is a link to the tins. They come in a pack of 50 disposable tins and are a great value for around $10. The main thing I love about them is that the pies cook so much faster, not to mention they are super adorable. I knew that my raspberry pies would be perfect in these.
I started with my basic pie crust recipe for two pies and used one to cut the crusts out in round pieces to fit in the bottom. You could also roll them out individually but I feel like that might take a little longer. You could also use roll out store bought crusts, of course, but for something as special as black raspberries, I just couldn't do it. With the second half of my double crust recipe I just cut out the tops and then crimped them before cutting slits in the top. You could easily make one big pie with this recipe but would need to double the berry filling and definitely increase the baking time.
If you find yourself lucky enough to have stumbled upon a black raspberry patch, I really think this is the best use of your berries!
Black Raspberry Mini Pies (click for printable recipe)
1 double pie crust recipe (here is my favorite)
4 cups of berries, rinsed, drained, and dried on towels
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/8 cup flour
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cinnamon
1 egg white
1 tablespoon of water
sugar for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a heavy baking sheet with foil (I use Reynolds release foil)
Mix together sugars, flour, salt, and cinnamon. Add berries and stir very, very gently so as to not squish the berries. Set aside.
Cut half of a chilled pie crust recipe into four circles slightly larger than than the pie tins. Press into pie tins. Place in freezer. Cut other half of pie crust recipe into circles.
Divide filling between the four pie crusts. Cover with second set of crusts and crimp the edges of the pies. Cut four small slits in the tops of each pie. Sparkling sugar or sugar in the raw works best for sprinkling on the top of the pies but regular white sugar can be used. Sprinkle before baking.
Whisk egg white with water and brush on tops of pies. Sprinkle with sugar. Sparkling sugar or sugar in the raw works best for sprinkling on the top of the pies but regular white sugar can be used.
Place pies on prepared baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes or until the pies are brown and bubbling.
