black and blue rhubarb pie, #28 of 52 pies

there is something special about a freshly baked berry pie.  a little sweet-a little tart and a deep rosy hue that draws the eyes, makes the mouth water and has the hands reaching for a knife and plate.  trying to develop an original recipe is a challenge on it's own but when you limit the categories to one and complete the task weekly...well, let's just say this isn't always as easy as it should be.  add a family that isn't always receptive to the chosen flavors and you can end up repeating the theme easily.  those of you who have followed this endeavor will no doubt find yourselves saying "hmm, she already used that ingredient" and you would be right!  my husband loves fruit pies as long as they aren't peach (go figure) and when i was pondering the choice of fruits, he wanted rhubarb.  since he will likely eat most of it, i decided to indulge him and make a rhubarb pie but rather than pair it with strawberries (as well as raspberries which i did for #18), i chose to go with blueberries and blackberries since they are both coming into season in the garden.

since not everyone has a freshly picked supply of blueberries and blackberries, buy them fresh or frozen.  you will need a total of 3 cups of berries which is a pound.  using frozen berries will make it possible to serve this pie even when the berries are not in season.

i am hoping to get some rhubarb crowns into the garden so i can harvest my own stalks.  believe it or not, my local supermarket has bags of sliced rhubarb available with the frozen fruits which means we can have a rhubarb pie anytime!  using purchased pie dough will save some time but for those of you not willing to compromise, make enough dough for a double crust pie using your favorite recipe or this one from pie #18

black and blue rhubarb pie

 1 (9") lattice topped pie serving 8-10

dough for a double crust, 9" pie
1 to 1 1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
zest of 1 orange or 3 mandarins (i chose mandarins!)
1 1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice (or cinnamon if you do not have any)

1 pound berries, about 3 full cups of blackberries and blueberries

1 pound of rhubarb slices, about 3 full cups

preheat the oven to 350.  grease a sturdy baking sheet, line it with parchment or foil and grease that as well.  line the greased pie plate with the bottom crust.  a whole lot of greasing going on?  this makes a sticky pie if the juices spill over during the baking and it will not be easy to remove from the baking sheet without the grease!  trim the excess dough so that only about 3/4" of dough hangs over the edge.  roll the excess dough under and flute the edges.  place the prepared pie crust on the baking sheet.

in a large bowl, rub the sugar, cornstarch, zest and spice together.  add the fruit and toss together.  scrape the filling into the pie crust and top it all off with lattice strips.  sprinkle some coarse sugar crystals over the strips and bake until it boils in the center, about 1 hour 15 minutes.   let it cool completely, about 4-6 hours, before cutting or you will have a never ending pie; no matter how many slices you cut, the filling runs out and fills the plate again!

so go forth in the world and bake a pie.  send me a photo and i will post it here!  bakinbabe116@aol.com