Blackberry Pie Recipe – Year 1896
Posted by Warren
Makes one 9-inch pie, double crust, berry filling
The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, by Fannie Merritt Farmer, 1896
There is nothing surprising about this blackberry pie recipe.
The unique thing about the recipe is that the Boston cook did not forget the salt.
Blackberry Pie Recipe of 1896
The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, by Fannie Merritt Farmer, 1896
Blackberry Pie.
Pick Blackberries
Pick over and wash one and one-half cups berries.
Blackberry Jam
Stew until soft with enough water to prevent burning.
Add sugar to taste and one-eighth teaspoon salt.
Line plate with paste, put on a rim, fill with berries (which have been cooled); arrange six strips pastry across the top, cut same width as rim; put on an upper rim.
Bake thirty minutes in moderate oven.
A Cookbook with vintage pie recipes
Fannie Farmer, the author of this cookbook, is perhaps the best known of the great American culinary authorities of the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries. And this book is arguably the best known and most influential of all American cookbooks.
It has been in print from its first appearance in 1896 until the current day, although the newer editions are updated and revised so that Fannie might not easily recognize them. From its first printing it was a bestseller.
The first edition of 3000 sold out quickly. It was reprinted twice in 1897 and once a year thereafter until 1906. It was then revised for the next edition. New and revised editions, in multiple reprints, continue to be published. It was reprinted in England and translated into French, Spanish, Japanese and Braille.
Afraid of Losing
Little, Brown, the publishers, evidently was afraid of losing their money on a cookbook. They required Fannie to pay for the first printing herself. However, Fannie was smart and kept ownership of the copyright on the book. Thus, she became wealthy while Little, Brown regrets this error to the day of death.
Berry Pie Recipe
Ingredients and instructions are not the actual vintage recipe but is provided for reference purposes.
Filling
3 pounds pears (Try with “D´ Anjou”)
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
You may add 2 to 3 tablespoons
of cranberry jelly sauce
for extra flavoring.
1 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 maple syrup
1 tablespoons tapioca
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 pinches ground cloves
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter (dotting top)
Directions
1. Prepare the pastry: Roll the pastry and line a 9-inch pie plate with the bottom crust. Roll out the remaining dough for the top crust. Chill the pastry.
2. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
3. Pour the fresh-squeezed lemon juice in the bottom of a large bowl. Peel, halve and core the pears with a melon baller or corer. Be sure to remove the fiber in the center of the pear. Slice them evenly about a 1/4 inch thick into the bowl, coating them with the lemon juice as you go.
4. Pour the cranberries over the pears.
5. Toss the pears with the dried cranberries.
6. Drain the juices from the pear mixture into a sauce pan and allow to cook down about on medium-low heat.
7. Add cornstarch to the cranberry-pear juice to thicken it up a little.
8. Re-incorporate the cranberry-pear sauce with the pears and toss again.
9. Add your sugar and spices to this mixture, mix gently.
10. Pour the filling into your uncooked pie crust.
Dot with butter and top it with the second crust. Trim and crimp the crust; chill the pie for at least 10 minutes.
11. Cut vent slits in the top crust. It is your option to sprinkle it with sugar or brush the top with heavy cream.
12. Bake the pie on a baking sheet for 10 minutes or until the crust looks dry, and starts to blister. Turn the oven down to 350° F, and bake for at least 30 to 40 minutes more or until the crust is golden brown, and visible juices start to bubble.
13. Cool the pie completely before cutting for at least a few hours. Serve it at room temperature or slightly warm. Store the pie uncovered in a cool place up to three days.
Berry Pie Success
This pie tasted delicious with almost any berry combination of fresh, frozen or canned berries.
Try to use some fresh berries. Fresh berries give the best flavor and texture.
If your are going to use frozen berries, they must be partially thawed prior to mixing the filling.
If your like a more texture less runny pie, dice or grate some apples in the filling.
