Happy Pi(e) Day! I don’t usually celebrate Pi Day but things have been a bit crazy with all of the news this week and the temporary closure of all of the Disney parks and Pi Day felt like a fun excuse for a bit of Mickey magic (and, of course, pie). Since fruit pies are beginning to come into season, I decided to make this blueberry blackberry pie! With fresh blueberries, blackberries, and a touch of lemon, this delicious pie has a flaky pastry crust and is topped with pie crust Mickey heads!
Pies are super fun desserts as there are a lot of different fruit combinations and cream or custard variations. While today is technically celebrating Pi the number, I do think Pie the dessert deserves a slice of the spotlight. I typically prefer cream or custard pies but this blueberry blackberry pie has a nice fruit texture and is the perfect combination of sweet and tart. Of course, adding Mickey on top doesn’t hurt either!
For my crust, I used the same pie crust I made for my Donald Duck Butt Pies and my Pumpkin Mickey Pies. I love how flaky this pie crust is and find that it works well with a variety of pies. It’s super easy to make as you do all of the work using a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, you can still make it by hand, but it will take a bit longer as you’ll need to cut the butter into the flour mixture using knives or a pastry cutter and then knead the dough by hand.
After you’ve combined the ingredients for the dough in the food processor, pulse until the dough is just starting to come together into a ball. It should no longer be sticking to the sides, but still have some chunks of butter in it. Remove it from the food processor and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead it a couple times to make sure it’s fully combined and then divide it in two. Shape each section into a disk, about 1-inch thick, and wrap in plastic wrap. Let chill for about 2 hours in the refrigerator.
Once the dough is chilled, remove from the refrigerator and place onto a lightly floured surface. You’ll roll the dough disks out one at a time. Roll one dough disk to about 1/8 thickness, turning every few strokes so that it doesn’t stick and so that you’re shaping it into a circle. Having it in a circle will make it easier to transfer and fit the dough into your pie plate. Aim to have the dough be about 2-inches larger than the size of your pie plate. For example, if your pie plate has a 9-inch diameter, aim to have a crust that is 11-inches in diameter.
After you’ve rolled out the dough, transfer it to the pie dish. An easy way to do this is to use your rolling pin. Hold the rolling pin over the edge of the crust closest to you. Pick up the edge of the crust and roll it over the top of the rolling pin. Make sure not to overlap the crust. Pick up the dough using the rolling pin and then lay it over the pie plate and unroll it towards you. Gently press the edges into the bottom of the pan.
I used a tart pan for my pie as I don’t have an actual pie plate. A tart pan works fine, the crust edge will just be a little bit different as you can’t really crimp it. Once you’ve transferred the dough, cut off the excess dough around the edges, leaving 1/2 inch overhang. You can either crimp the edges, use a fork to create a decorative edge, or fold them up and leave it plain.
Place the pie plate into the refrigerator to chill while you roll out the second disk of dough. Roll out this dough disk to the same thickness as the first and cut out Mickey Mouse shapes using a cookie cutter. I used one of my favorite cutters from Wilton. For my pie, I needed 10 Mickey shaped pie crust pieces. Place the cut out pieces onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper and place into the refrigerator to chill.
While the pie crusts are chilling, preheat the oven and make the filling. First, combine the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and zest in a medium bowl. Wash and dry your berries and then add them to the sugar mixture, gently stirring them until they’re well coated. Taste a berry and add additional sugar if needed. Transfer the berries to the pie crust and place the Mickey pieces on top. I placed them in rows, with bits of the dough touching each other.
Place the pie plate on a foil lined baking sheet and bake the pie for 20 minutes before rotating and baking for another 25 minutes or until the filling is bubbly. The foil and the baking sheet will help catch any juices that spill over. Let cool completely (about 2 hours) before serving. This blueberry blackberry pie is delicious with chocolate or vanilla ice cream!
Happy Pi(e) Day!
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Mickey’s Blueberry Blackberry Pie
Ingredients
Pastry Crust
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup water, very cold
- 3 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup + 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold
Blueberry & Blackberry Filling
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 4 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
- pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely grated
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 18 oz fresh blackberries, washed and dried
- 9 oz fresh blueberries, washed and dried
Instructions
Pastry Crust
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In a small bowl, add salt to the water. Stir to dissolve. Keep cold until ready to use.
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Put the flour in the food processor. Cut the butter into 1-inch pieces. Scatter over the flour and pulse briefly until the mixture forms large crumbs and the butter is in pea-sized chunks.
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Add the water mixture; Pulse for several seconds until the dough begins to come into a ball but is not totally smooth. There should still be some butter chunks.
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On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into tow balls. Shape into disks, about 1-inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
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On a lightly floured surface, roll one disk of dough out to ⅛ inch thickness. Rotate every few strokes. Aim to have the dough be about two inches larger than the size of the pie plate.
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Transfer pie crust to the pie plate. Trim the dough so that there is a ½ inch overhang. Crimp edges if desired. Refrigerate until ready to use.
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Roll the second disk of dough out to ⅛ thickness. Using a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter, cut out Mickey shapes. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to use.
Blueberry & Blackberry Filling
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Preheat the oven to 425 F.
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In a medium bowl, combine the cornstarch, salt, lemon juice and zest. Add the berries and gently stir to combine. Take and add more sugar if needed.
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Transfer berries to the pie crust. Place the Mickey head pie crust pieces on top of the berry filling.
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Place pie plate on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the pie in the oven and bake for another 25 minutes or until the filling bubbles.
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Cool completely before serving.
Recipe Notes
crust adapted from Tartine, filling adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum