I am not very good at baking.
Let’s get that out there right away. It’s a lot of chemistry and often, a lot of sugar, and frankly neither of those things are my strong suit.
(Okay, fair enough, I co-run a foodblog so I am decent at baking. I definitely consider myself more of a cook, though).
One day I followed a ‘foolproof’ bread recipe: It gooed all over my oven and ended up a solid brick, more deathly weapon than a sandwich. When I asked my friend, who just graduated from culinary arts school, about it she went ‘oh yeah, it rained the other day.’ WHAT. It rains almost every day here! Apparently whoever created the original recipe lives in Tucson, Arizona or some such because the humidity outside in Vancouver apparently made it a no-go.
Cooking on the other hand- cooking is like jazz. Taste, taste, taste- more acid? Salt? It’s all about balancing flavours and textures and it’s generally a lot more forgiving, meaning I can also be a lot more creative when I invent recipes.
This being said, this is a truly delicious and amazingly impressive pie… for those of us who don’t bake.
AND you make the crust yourself. All put together in under half an hour. Foolproof (for real this time).
I usually use raspberries and blackberries for this tart, as they are my favourites and are local to my area, but you can use any mix of berries you like- blueberries, strawberries, salmonberries, cloudberries, Saskatoonberries, loganberries… you get it, pretty much 3 cups of any mix of berries your heart desires.
Finally, just because it’s the most absurd movie on earth but I quote this scene every single time I make this pie… take it away, James Franco!
| Blackberry Raspberry Tart | Print |
- Crust:
- 1 cup flour
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 Tbsp white vinegar
- .
- Filling:
- 3 cups berries (I like 2 parts raspberry to 1 part blackberry but, as mentioned above, you can use any types of berries you like)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 5 Tbsp flour
- Preheat oven to 375.
- In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Add butter and vinegar and mix with hands until a dough forms. Press into a 9 inch pie plate.
- In a second bowl, gently mix all the filling ingredients together. The berry juices will create a sort of paste with the sugar and flour. That being said, if you can keep some berries intact while stirring I think it adds a nice bit of texture. Don't worry too much about under stirring but do make sure the flour and sugar are all moistened with juice.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes. Cool completely before serving. Excellent on its own or alongside a dollop of vanilla ice cream.
My kind of pie!!
Just found your blog and this looks awesome! I’ve completely never seen vinegar in a pie crust before. Always looking out for a new pie crust recipe so I can’t wait to try this one out 🙂
Thanks, Shells! I’ve never had a bad experience with this crust, it’s truly foolproof 🙂 Love your site! I’ll definitely be bookmarking it
Hi! Can I keep this in the fridge for 8 hours? Will the crust get soggy? Also can I use cherries as well? Thanks 🙂
Hi Natalie, if you want to make this tart ahead of time I would leave it at room temperature on your counter top. The crust shouldn’t get soggy at all 🙂 Cherries would be great in this- I would halve them so the juice helps bind the filling. Actually, I bet just about any mix of berry would be great in this tart, it’s really versatile!