Summer Berry (Icebox) Pie and a GIVEAWAY

Summer is finally here in Seattle. *Hallelujah!* 

The blackberries are ripening and we now we are enjoying weather that includes sunshine and temperatures above 60! Hopefully this doesn’t come off as braggy to the rest of the nation reeling from the heat and ready for winter, let alone fall, to take over – but it’s just been a particularly chilly and un-summery summer here, so us here Seattleites are just going to take what we can get and run with it.

Since the blackberries are becoming plump and oh-so-deliciously juicy I wanted to make something that captured everything summer had to give and not be so heavy as to weigh you down in the heat. 

Here is where I turned again…begin to roll your eyes ’cause you know what’s comin’, to ATK. I swear I’m not vying for a sponsorship from them or a lifetime subscription to their magazine, but when in doubt they are the resource I turn to most frequently.

Today’s selection was from the Complete Series Cookbook and the magazine I will be giving away “ATK Healthy Kitchen”, where I plucked out the Summer Berry Pie. 

Perfectly summery, not sickly sweet and best of all – it’s not meant to be baked. 

Actually, let me rephrase. I substituted the original graham cracker crust with the Perfect Pie Crust from Miss Ree, since I had one ready and waiting in the freezer. Let’s note – I’m just to lazy to make a whole new type of crust when I had one ready to go. Gosh, those really are handy to just keep on hand for such occasions. 

Since this was a “no-bake” pie, and I made the executive decision to use a baked crust, I wanted to pre-bake it so that the filling would slip right in and it’d be done. I rolled it out, mashed it into my non-stick pie pan, untidily crimping the edges and baked the bad boy for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

For the first 15 minutes of it, I placed a square of foil over the dough, and weighted it down with a cup and a half of pinto beans. I’m to cheap to buy pie weights, so no judging. The second half of the baking time, I removed the foil and let the bottom of the crust brown up. 

Told ya it was an untidily crimped pie crust…

While the crust sat aside to cool, I broke out the immersion blender and a boat load of blackberries. ATK’s Summer Berry Pie calls for a total of six cups of berries, 2 blueberry, 2 raspberry and 2 blackberry. Not having blueberries or raspberries, and being to lazy to go to the store, I opted for just a blackberry version of this delectable beast. 

In a deep bowl, I pureed 2 1/2 cups of blackberries. When all of the chunks were gone, I poured the mixture into a sieve over another bowl, stirring the contents around and pushing the juice through until only the seeds and skins remained. 

Into the puree mixture went 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1/2 cup of sugar. With a good whisking around the bowl, it was ready for the stove. Now, although this is a no-bake pie, there is a little cooking involved – but these steps are imperative, so make sure not to skip them. 

The bowl of blackberry puree, cornstarch and sugar was added to a small saucepan and whisked over medium heat until it thickened to the consistency of a pudding. When it reached that state, I let it cool on the counter until just warm as ATK said to do. 

When the warmed puree and crust were cool enough to handle it was time for the final assembly. To the bottom of the pie crust, I poured in the warm puree mixture and spread it evenly over the bottom of the crust. 

Here I topped it with the remaining 3 1/2 cups of fresh blackberries I’d picked. Pressing them down lightly into the sauce at the bottom it was complete and ready for the fridge and a final set. Oh, the excruciatingly slow passing of time!