First, find your blackberry bramble and pick four cups of fresh, handpicked blackberries. They should be plump and have a glossy coat.
Set them aside while you prepare the crusts.
In a separate bowl, stir together three-quarters of a cup of sugar, five tablespoons of flour, and a half teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix well until everything is evenly combined. Set this aside.
For the crust, you’ll need two—one for the bottom and one for the top. To make a crust, mix one and a quarter cups of flour with a half teaspoon of salt. Add half a cup of Crisco and work it in gently with your two knives or a pastry cutter until the mixture turns crumbly. Add three tablespoons plus one teaspoon of ice-cold water (must be ice cold!) and stir just enough for the dough to come together. As soon as it holds, gather it lightly into a ball. Roll it out on a floured surface with care, handling the dough as little as possible to keep it tender and flaky, roll a large enough piece to cover the pie tin – trim off excess if need be. Fold under the crust’s edge around the pie tin- then pinch the edges decoratively. Next prepare a second batch for the top crust, when rolled cut a circle slightly smaller than the pie tin mark it with a B, add some slits around the B. There should be a small gap around the circle top crust and the edge.
Return to the blackberries and gently fold them into the sugar, flour, and cinnamon mixture until each berry is well coated. Slowly spoon this mixture into the prepared crust: Then dot the top of the filling with four to five small pieces of butter.
Bake the pie in a preheated 400°F oven for 35 minutes, though it usually takes closer to 45. What matters most is that the filling must be bubbling—truly bubbling—before you take it out of the oven. That’s when you know it’s ready.
Once baked, remove it from the oven and let it rest for an hour. This step is essential—it allows the juices to settle so the pie sets just right, holding its shape when sliced, rich and full but not running.
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