This post has been sponsored by my friends at Stahlbush Island Farms. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Olive and Artisan.
I used to hate making pie. The first time I tried it was catastrophic. Melted butter stuck to the old laminate in my first apartment. And when I took my first bite, it bounced back like a gummy bear. I thought pie making was a gift only given to grandmas, that I was destined for a life of Pillsbury and Marie Calendar. Which, truth be told, they do have their time and place.
But, we persevere. We don’t leave it on those grey speckled laminate countertops. We pick ourselves up and try again. I’m now the girl that volunteers to make the pies at thanksgiving. I spend that Wednesday before happily in my own (non-laminate counter) kitchen turning out buttermilk crust, after cold water crust, after tart dough. And in the summer, when the berries come into the fruit stands, I have an excuse to cut cold butter into salted flour.
But fruit stands are temporary. In fact, I’ve seen the winding down of berries on the stand. Our beloved Oregon Marion berries have disappeared all together. So, this pie, is made with Stahlbush Island Farms Northwest Berry Blend. A little brown paper bag of fruit that sits in our freezer ready for anything at any time.
The pie is made up of a buttermilk crust that. We’ll then layer a slab of almond paste at the base to give the perfect nostalgic flavor and texture. I’ve given a recipe for it below but feel free to buy store bought too. I toss the berries that have been slightly defrosted with the basics, sugar, flour, and cornstarch. Everything gets dumped into the pie before a lattice is gently placed on to finish.
It gets baked a long time to let those berries release their juice and then thicken with the starches. We let it rest even longer before it gets sliced and served with a generous helping of vanilla bean ice cream and hot black coffee.
I hope you haven’t given up on pie making. It will become second nature to you. The less times you touch it the better, the colder you can keep it, the more rest time you give it – all the better for it. Happy September, friends.
Northwest Berry Pie
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 8 inch pie 1x
- Category: Baking
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Crust,
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
1/3 cup buttermilk, cold
1 yolk plus 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
For the Almond Paste,
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup almond meal
1 ½ teaspoon almond extract
1 egg yolk
For the Filling,
2 bags frozen Northwest Berry Blend
1 cup sugar
½ cup flour
1/3 cup corn starch
Instructions
For the crust,
In a food processor, pulse the all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt together once. Add in the cold, cubed butter and pulse just 3 times. Pour in the chilled buttermilk and blend until the mixture starts to look golden and is crumbly. Turn out onto a clean work surface and kneed until it comes together. Cut the dough in half and form two disks. Wrap each with plastic wrap and set in the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
For the Almond Paste,
In a food processor, blend the ingredients together until a sticky dough forms. Place into a sheet of plastic wrap, cover and form into a disk. Place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Roll out one of the pie disks into about an 10-inch crust and place onto an 8 inch pie plate. Roll out the almond paste between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out into a disk the size of which will fit the bottom of your pie crust. Place on the bottom of the pie crust and place in the fridge.
Roll out the other pie crust and cut into 1/3-inch strips for the lattice.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the Northwest Berry Blend that has been slightly defrosted with the rest of the ingredients. Toss together and pour into the bottom of the pie plate including any of the excess dry ingredients.
Top the pie by creating a lattice with the remaining pie strips. Mix the egg yolk and water and brush on top of the crust.
Bake at 425 for 20 minutes then reduce the temperature down to 400 degrees and bake for another 50 minutes. Cover the pie with foil if the crust starts to turn brown.
Let the pie cool fully before serving.
Keywords: Pie, berry pie, buttermilk crust
