Huckleberry Pie

It has finally cooled down here the past few days, and I’ve been *so* in love with the overcast skies and chilly mornings. It’s amazing to wake up in the morning not covered in sweat and panting, but instead snuggled under the blanket nice and cozy-like with a pup on either side of me. Once it starts to get cool and crisp again, I begin to crave pie morning, noon and night. Full of the last berries of summer, I made this a few weeks ago when it was insanely hot, and while it was rough having the oven on, I still loved it then and would love it even more so now. (I am planning on making it again later today, YUM!) Also, we still have a couple spaces left for my Croatia workshop, where Linda Lomelino of Call Me Cupcake and Maggie Pate from Inks + Thread will be joining us. We’ll be foraging for truffles in the Croatian countryside and enjoying amazing Istrian wines, you can read more about it and register at the link below. Would love to have you come!

I used garden variety huckleberries from my yard, but you could easily sub in wild huckleberries or blueberries for that matter. Really almost any type of berry would taste good here (I feel like this statement applies to any berry-related recipe). I’ve been getting a lot of requests about doing a garden post, and I am definitely on it. I’m currently searching through my computer for pictures I took of it early this year before we turned the front yard into a vegetable garden, and am determined to find them so I can do a ‘before & after’ type post for you guys.

But back to the pie, the crust in this thing is heaven. So many delicious spices and all the butter combine in here, and if you follow the directions about the chilling (you can read more about the science behind why here) you’ll end up with an extra-flakey and unforgettable crust. And the filling is basically sweetened spiced stewed berries, and you really can’t go wrong with that. There’s breadcrumbs sprinkled at the bottom of the filling (a little trick learned from Dorie Greenspan) that helps absorb the excess juice from the pie and keeps it from being as watery when you slice it for serving. I like serving dark-berried pies a la mode with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but feel free to serve it however you’d like. It’s your pie now, after all!

Print

Huckleberry Pie

Course Dessert

Author Eva Kosmas Flores

Ingredients

Spiced Crust

• 3 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup unsalted butter frozen
• 6 to 10 tablespoons ice water

Filling

• 4 cups huckleberries
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• pinch salt
• 3 tablespoons plain dried bread crumbs

Instructions

1. First, prepare the crust. Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Grate the frozen butter over the bowl on the largest hole setting, stopping every 10 seconds or so to stir in the grated butter bits so that they don’t form one giant butter shard clump. Add the ice water mixture 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring then kneading, until the dough just comes together. Grab a handful of the dough in your first and then release it. If it generally sticks together when you let go, it is fine. If it completely crumbles apart, it needs another tablespoon or two of water.
2. Once the dough holds its shape, separate it out into two balls, one just slightly larger than the other. Roll out the larger ball to 1/4-inch thickness on a well-floured surface. Transfer it to a 9-1/2 inch pie pan and center it so that an even amount of crust hangs over each side. Press the crust into the bottom of the skillet so that it is nice and snug (you don't want any air bubbles appearing), still allowing the extra crust to hang over the side. Cover and refrigerate the pan, and cover and refrigerate the smaller ball of dough.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. For the filling, toss together the huckleberries and vanilla extract in a large bowl until coated. Add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, cloves, and salt and toss until combined. Set aside.
4. Remove the small ball of dough from the refrigerator and roll it out into a rectangle. Cut it longways into 10 roughly 3/4-inch wide strips.
5. Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator and evenly distribute the bread crumbs on the bottom of the crust. Pour the filling over the bread crumbs.
6. Lay half of the strips across the pie and use this guide to fold them back and place the other 5 strips as needed. Once the lattice is in place, fold the hanging crust edge back over the ends of the lattice strips and pinch with your thumbs to seal the crust in place.
7. Place the pie in the oven and bake until the crust is deeply golden and the interior is bubbly and thick, about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. If the crust is browning too quickly, cover the edges with tin foil. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.