Last week a dear neighbor gifted me a wedging table he’d built for my new home pottery studio. When I’d asked him if he would be willing to build one for me, I’d offered to pay him. “Just pay for the wood,” he’d said.

But when he brought the finished table over to the studio and we got it all set up, I couldn’t stop smiling. “What do I owe you?” I said.

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it,” he replied, and would not let me pay him no matter what I said. Of course, you know I’m going to be gifting him pottery in the future, but I needed a way to express my gratitude immediately.

So I baked him a pie. A black raspberry pie, to be exact.

This, just like the apple version, is my go-to pie recipe. Ask me to bring dessert, and you’re almost guaranteed I’ll arrive with this pie in hand. Do me a favor like cutting up a fallen tree in my neighbor’s yard with your chainsaw, and I’ll pay you in pie.

Pie is my regular way to repay a favor or express my gratitude. And black raspberry is the common currency.

Black raspberries (also called black caps) are small berries that grow wild where I live (but are also a plant you can cultivate if they don’t grow wild where you are). In the northeast, they are ripe and ready for picking around the beginning of July, and picking season usually lasts 2-3 weeks. Steve spends those weeks every year sacrificing his arms to the thorns in order to fill our freezer with berries for a year’s worth of pies.

Black raspberry is his favorite kind of pie.

But the great thing about this recipe is that it can be used for other fruits, too. It’s the same recipe I posted for my favorite apple pie, with the addition of cinnamon to it. But it also makes a great blueberry pie. In fact, my mother-in-law, who makes the BEST blueberry pie on the planet, has started using this recipe for her blueberry pie part of the time because it’s so crazy-easy, only takes one crust, and is so crazy-delicious. I mean, talk about a win-win-WIN.

I’m not kidding when I say it’s easy. Make our Everyday Flaky Pie Crust or buy a premade one at the store. Put half the berries in the pie shell, then add half of the crumb mixture, and repeat. That’s it.

Seriously.

Since I’m a fan of a fabulous thick, deep dish pie, I’ve written up the recipes for both regular and deep dish below.

A few pie-related hints:

• Bake the pie until you see that the juices have thickened and are bubbly, otherwise you’ll have a runny pie. Even if it takes more time than the recipe says, keep it in the oven. If you’re worried about overbaking it, you can turn off the oven and just leave the pie in it while it cools down. I’ve done that occasionally, and it works beautifully.
• If you get into the habit, as I am, of overfilling your pie, the juices are guaranteed to spill over, so either cook your pie on a foil-lined cookie sheet or place foil on the rack below (turn up the edges so it doesn’t run off the foil) to prevent them from dripping onto your oven floor and burning.
• When the juices start to spill over, your pie is either done or just about done. Check for that thick bubbling around the edges to be sure.
• I don’t cover the crust with foil because I haven’t had an issue with it getting too dark. Or maybe I don’t mind a browner crust? I don’t know. The photo below shows the baked crust. If you want something lighter or feel the need to cover the edges of the crust, go for it.

Happy pie baking, friends!

Black Raspberry Pie

A ridiculously easy and delicious berry pie.

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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Course: Dessert

Servings: 1 9-inch pie

Ingredients

Volume - Weight

• 1 pie shell (see our Everyday Flaky Pie Crust)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 6 cups black raspberries (can use blueberries instead)
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice (or more or less, depending on your preferences)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 F/ 218 C.
• Prepare your pie crust and set aside.
• Combine the butter, flour, and sugar in a bowl. Using either a fork or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a fine crumb mixture. Set aside.
• Place half of the berries in the unbaked pie shell, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (or more or less, depending on your taste preference). Cover with half of the crumb mixture. Gently shake the crumb mixture down into the crevices between the berries, turning the pie a couple of times and shaking again to get it well distributed.
• Place the rest of the berries on top, pour another 2 tablespoons of lemon juice over them, and cover with the remaining crumb mixture.
• Bake at 425 F/ 218 C for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 F/ 177 C and bake for another 45-50 minutes, until thick and bubbly around the edges.
• Let cool completely before slicing. Store, loosely covered with foil or plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 6 days (I mean, if you can make it last that long.)

Black Raspberry Pie (Deep Dish)

A ridiculously easy and delicious berry pie.

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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Ingredients

Volume - Weight

• 1 deep dish pie shell (see our Everyday Flaky Pie Crust recipe)
• 6 Tablespoons butter
• 1 1/8 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/8 cup all purpose flour
• 8 cups black raspberries (can use blueberries instead)
• 6 Tablespoons lemon juice (or more or less, depending on your preferences)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 F/ 218 C.
• Prepare your pie crust and set aside.
• Combine the butter, flour, and sugar in a bowl. Using either a fork or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a fine crumb mixture. Set aside.
• Place half of the berries in the unbaked pie shell, and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of lemon juice (or more or less, depending on your taste preference). Cover with half of the crumb mixture. Gently shake the crumb mixture down into the crevices between the berries, turning the pie a couple of times and shaking again to get it well distributed.
• Place the rest of the berries on top, pour another 3 tablespoons of lemon juice over them, and cover with the remaining crumb mixture.
• Bake at 425 F/ 218 C for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 F/ 177 C and bake for another 65-80 minutes, until thick and bubbly around the edges.
• Let cool completely before slicing. Store, loosely covered with foil or plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 6 days (I mean, if you can make it last that long.)