This Spiced Blackberry Pie merges the best of two seasons. Delicious, juicy blackberries are tucked inside a flaky crust and spiced just right with cinnamon, allspice, ginger and a touch of cloves.
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After eating this Spiced Blackberry Pie for the first time, I wondered why I had waited so long to use the warm spices of fall for a berry pie. It's such an amazing combination!
Traditionally, warm spices such as cinnamon, ginger, and clove are reserved for distinctly fall or winter baking. Pumpkin usually stars as the lead role with that spice lineup. However, when paired with this berry pie, it works just as well. It plays off the sweet and tart blackberry flavor and makes this pie really unique.
And it's the perfect pie to make at the end of summer or early fall!
So, let's get to making it, shall we? The text below offers tons of tips and helpful notes, or you can scroll to the bottom to grab the recipe and get started!
More of a visual person? Check out the video of me making it below, located right above the recipe!
Blackberry Pie Ingredients
Here is an overview of the ingredients needed for this recipe. The full recipe is listed below in greater detail.
- blackberries (fresh or frozen is fine!)
- granulated sugar
- cornstarch
- fresh orange juice (as in, from an actual orange)
- spices: cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cloves (but feel free to adjust these to your liking, just don't omit them-they really make this recipe stand out!)
- salt
Type of Berries to Use
You can use either frozen or fresh berries in this pie. While it's nice to use fresh ripe berries in the summer, there is nothing wrong with using frozen berries any time of year!
These days, frozen berries can be superior to some of the fresh berries you find at the grocery store, especially in the dead of winter.
If you are using frozen, let the berries macerate in the bowl with the sugar and spice for a few extra minutes.
Whether frozen or fresh, ensure that the cornstarch and sugar have dissolved into the berries. You do this to ensure that there are no lumps of thickener in the pie. No matter what the time of year, lumpy pies are not in season.
Useful Tools
Here is a list of some of the primary tools I use in this recipe. You won't necessarily choose to use them all, but they are exactly what I used. Any links may contain affiliate links.
- stand mixer (to make the pie dough, or you can make it by hand or in a food processor)
- 9" pie plate
- rolling pin
- knife or pastry wheel
- ruler (if planning to make a lattice)
- kitchen essentials: baking scale, bowls, measuring cups and measuring spoons
- pie shield
Pie Crust Options
This pie tastes best with a homemade buttery pie crust. The recipe suggests making a super flaky pie crust, but that is not essential in this recipe.
Here is a list of the other pie crusts that will work with this blackberry pie:
Whatever pie crust you use, you'll need a top crust and a bottom crust.
Double Crust Vs. Lattice
What type of top crust you choose is a personal preference!
Many people are intimidated by making a lattice pie crust, but it’s pretty simple to do if you follow a few easy tips and tricks. Here is a complete Guide to Making a Lattice Pie Crust if you are unfamiliar with the technique.
Aside from being extremely beautiful, a lattice does serve a purpose! This blackberry pie needs to have a means for the built-up steam from baking to escape. A lattice pie is essentially built-in ventilation.
However, a full top crust is much easier to put on a pie. All you have to do is roll out pie dough to about a 10" to 11" circle and place it on top of the pie. Tuck the edges underneath the crust and crimp as desired. Do not forget to poke steam holes. Do this after you egg wash, so the steam holes don't get sealed.
Steps for Making this Blackberry Pie
As with most pies, there are a few steps you need to complete to get to the finished product. Many of these components can be broken down into steps and done days (or weeks) in advance.
Steps for making this blackberry pie:
- Make the pie dough: you can prepare the dough up to 2 days ahead, or up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Roll out the pie dough: this can be done up to 1 day ahead of time. Roll out the bottom crust and place in a pie plate. Keep in the refrigerator, covered completely, until you are ready to make the pie.
- Make pie filling and assemble the pie.
- Bake!
The entire pie can be assembled and frozen before being ready to bake. You can bake it straight from frozen! Check out How to Bake a Frozen Pie for more information on that!
How to Tell When It's Done
Once you go through all that trouble of putting together your pie, you definitely want to make sure it's cooked properly. If it's not cooked long enough, it won't set up.
Cooking the pie long enough is important to reach a high enough temperature to activate the thickening agent.
There are two main ways to tell when this blackberry pie is done. The first is by sight.
Visually look for the pastry to be golden and the pie to be puffed up nearly all the way through. It puffs up because the fruit has reached the temperature needed for it to activate the cornstarch. As it cools, it will deflate.
Another way to tell if the pie is ready is to look for the filling to be bubbling from the middle of the pie. The bubbling doesn't need to be rapid; just look for at least one bubble while checking the pie.
The most fool-proof way to ensure your pie is baked properly is to use an instant-read thermometer. I always use one to check the temperature of every pie that I bake. For a blackberry pie, you want the internal temperature to be above 200ºF.
Serving and Storing Blackberry Pie
Serve the baked pie just slightly warm or at room temperature. It can be served as is or with ice cream or whipped cream.
If you serve it while it is hot, it will be soupy and won't maintain a nice clean slice (you won't catch me saying don't do this--as it's truly delicious, but do know it will be messy).
A baked blackberry pie can be stored at room temperature, covered, for 1 day. If you are storing it longer, cover it and place it in a refrigerator. It can always be reheated later to take the chill off and crisp up the pastry.
More Fruit Pie Recipes
- Sweet Cherry Pie
- Apple Crumble Pie
- Butterscotch Pear Pie
- Blueberry Hand Pies
- Ginger Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Full Recipe
Spiced Blackberry Pie
This warmly Spiced Blackberry Pie is simple yet so flavorful. Delicious blackberries are tucked inside a flaky crust and spiced just right with cinnamon, allspice, ginger and a touch of cloves. You can use frozen or fresh blackberries. And like all fruit pie, if you wanted you could assemble this pie completely and store in the freezer before baking it off. Check out the directions on how to do this: How to Bake a Frozen Pie.
- Prep Time: 00:30
- Cook Time: 01:00
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 Servings
- Category: Sweet Pie
- Method: Bake
Ingredients
- 1 batch Super Flaky Pie Crust or Classic Butter Pie Crust
- 5 cups (20 ounces) blackberries, fresh or frozen
- ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (28 grams) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- Pinch ginger
- Pinch cloves
- Pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- Eggwash
- Coarse sugar
Instructions
- Make the flaky pie crust, or the classic all butter pie crust as instructed.
- Preheat oven to 425ºF and place an oven rack in the lower part of the oven.
- Roll out the pastry: Roll out one pie pastry to an 11″ circle. Fit the pastry in a 9” pie plate, making sure to press the pastry into the sides and the bottom. Roll out the second pastry and cut strips if making a lattice, or just roll out a 10" circle for a full crust. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Make the filling: Add blackberries, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cloves and salt, and toss to coat. Mix in the orange juice. Let sit until the sugars have started to dissolve, about 5-10 minutes.
- Place the blackberry pie filling and all the juices inside of the pie plate fitted with pastry. Gently press down on the filling to eliminate any gaps between the fruit.
- Top the pie with a lattice or top with the rolled-out pie dough with a few slits or small shapes stamped out of it to let steam escape.
- Brush the crust with an egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
- Bake on the lowest rack for 25 minutes.
- Lower the oven temperature to 400ºF. If the crust is browning, cover the outer edges with aluminum foil or a pie shield, leaving the middle of the crust exposed. Bake for another 35-40 minutes, or until the juices are bubbling and the temperature of the middle of the pie reaches above 200ºF.
- Let the pie cool for 2-4 hours before serving.
Notes
Have a question or looking for tips? The text written above the recipe is always a great first place to start! This Blackberry Pie was developed with lots of love, and I always include loads of explanations, tips, step-by-step photos and technical advice shared before the recipe. And be sure to check out the video, too!
For other pie crust options, see the note in the post above titled: "Pie Crust Options"
Weighing your flour is the most accurate way to measure. If you aren't going to weigh it, spoon it into the cup, and then level it off. If you scoop the flour out with the measuring cup and then level, it could change the outcome of the final product.
You can use frozen or fresh blackberries. If using frozen, let the berries macerate for a few minutes longer, until they are starting to soften. But do not thaw them out before beginning the recipe.
Store the pie at room temperature, covered for up to 1 day. If storing longer, store covered in the refrigerator.
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Braden
The interplay between tart blackberries and fall spices is awesome.
Kate
This pie was so warm and perfectly spiced!! The undertones of flavors blended so nicely.
Pamela L Swinford
I have made this pie twice. It is an absolute warm Autumn treat! The taste is like a warm mulled wine.
I've made it twice and both times more was needed.
This recipe has made me much more brave with my pies!!!
Note: I used the cinnamon and substituted the other spices with 1/2 teaspoon Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus that was on hand.
Stephanie
I did a trial run in advance of Thanksgiving to see if this pie would make the cut. The result: it was fantastic! I used the juice of a fresh orange and omitted the allspice because I was out. I loved it! The warm spices make all the difference. This pie absolutely made the cut and I am very excited to include it in my family’s holiday celebration.
Chantal
I made two of these a long time ago with a spelt crust because I for some reason had a ton of spelt flour. It was delicious and a great swap. I had kept one in the freezer and pulled it out recently when my cousins came to visit. My younger cousin ate this at dinner time and for breakfast two days straight. I don’t think his brother even got to have any. It’s so good and the spices add just enough that it’s more than a regular fruit pie without being over the top or ridiculously hard to make