This recipe tastes like summer to me. As a child, I grew up with blueberries in my backyard. Then, as an adult, I had a backyard filled with blackberry bushes. Now, at our new farm there are blackberries. In the future, hopefully there will be blueberries also. Either way, these berries make me think of summer. A chilled pie, fresh berries- yes, it’s definitely a taste of summer.
The original post from August 2016
I am fortunate, as I have blackberry bushes in my yard. There’s nothing quite like picking a few and enjoying a burst of their sweet and tangy flavor. When I first moved to this house, that’s about the amount they produced- just enough for all of us to eat as a tiny snack. Then my husband and I decided to put a little time into clearing out the area around the bushes, and the next year we had many more blackberries. The question then became- how shall we use them?
I made an assortment of items with our blackberries: blackberry chutney, blackberry bruschetta, macerated blackberries, and more. The next item I wanted to try was a dessert, not merely a dessert topping, and a pie seemed like the best delivery vehicle. A blackberry or blackberry/blueberry pie would have been fine, but I really wanted to try adding an assortment of flavors. So, why not make a two-layered pie with a delicious base of sweet cream cheese?
This pie could be made with a regular pie crust, but I’m not a fan of it. I much prefer a graham cracker or other cookie crust. I think they have much better flavor. You choose the crust that is best for you. This pie doesn’t take long to make, but it does need a few hours for chilling, so plan appropriately.
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 cups blackberries
- 2 cups blueberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 3-4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 8 ounes cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- graham cracker pie crust
- Put 1 cup blackberries and 1 cup blueberries in large saucepot.
- Add water, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, and lemon juice; mash well.
- Place over medium heat, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Continue boiling and stirring until thickened. (If it isn’t thick enough, mix remaining tablespoon cornstarch with a couple drops of water, add to sauce, and stir until thickened.)
- Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Combine cream cheese, remaining sugar, and vanilla, and beat until smooth.
- Spread cream cheese mixture on bottom of pie crust.
- When berry mixture is cooled to room temperature, add remaining blackberries and blueberries.
- Pour berry mixture over cream cheese.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Raspberries could be used in place of either berry, as well as one type of berry could be used on its own.
