Tom's Pie Fillings (in progress)
Blackberry (frozen):
Makes enough filling for a 11 inch deep dish pie pan.
Ingredients:
- 1800 grams frozen blackberries
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp tapioca flour
- Zest of 1 1/2 lemons
- 3/8 of a teaspoon salt
- Lemon juice (maybe)
Recipe:
Thaw blackberries and drain well, capturing drained liquid. Take all but 3 tbsp of drained liquid, enough berries to make 450 grams, and salt, and heat over stove, until it has reached a boil. Lightly boil for 5-8 minutes, by which point berries should be thickened. Make a slurry out of tapioca flour and 3 tbsp leftover draining liquid. Add it to pot, and stir until mixture has returned to a boil. Transfer uncooked berries to a large bowl and pour cooked berries over them. Stir in lemon zest. Taste mixture, and add sugar if it is too sour, and possibly lemon juice or more salt.
Comments:
This recipe makes a guess on tapioca. I did 3 tbsp for 1200g of berries last time. It wasn't enough filling and it was too thick. I'm also guessing on salt, but it's probably not enough to matter.
Sugar may depend on the sourness and sweetness levels in the berries.
Many pie fillings include butter, but this one doesn't because I didn't want to mute the flavour of the blackberries.
Blueberry (frozen):
The ATK recipe is pretty good, but I make the following adjustments. I use 2 tsps of lemon juice, instead of 2. 8 cups of berries instead of 6, and 2 tbsps of tapioca flour, although this is the right amount if the pie is allowed to fully rest. I don't usually add butter on top of the blueberries. And their recipe calls for too much sugar. A quarter cup is usually good.