Author Notes
This is lightly adapted from Ruth Reichl's perfect Apricot Pie in her memoir Comfort Me with Apples. I've made it every summer for years as soon as I see apricots at the market. This year, I had a ton of blackberries for my little daughter so I felt compelled to add them! This is a very fresh, bright pie - the fruit is unsugared so you really taste their complex flavors. The topping is sweet, buttery and crunchy, fragrant with fresh nutmeg. I use salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter - just add a pinch of kosher salt to the flour, to taste. It can get a little runny, so you could sprinkle a breath of corn starch over the fruit before you add the topping. The juices are an incredible sunset of colors - who cares if a serving looks less a slice and more like a scoop? Not I, my friends. Not I. —JadeTree
Ingredients
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1
Recipe dough (your favorite - just for the bottom)
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2 pounds
Fresh apricots
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2 handfuls
Blackberries, depending on size. Mine were gargantuan so I used fewer.
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1
Stick of salted butter
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3/4 cup
Sugar
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3/4 cup
AP flour
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1/2-3/4 teaspoons
Freshly grated nutmeg
Directions
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Place and crimp the dough into a 9 inch pie plate and put in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
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Preheat the oven to 400.
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Take the clean, dry apricots and, without peeling them, tear them into halves with your hands. Remove the pits and stems and discard.
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When the crust is cold, arrange the apricot halves in the crust and dot the blackberries about evenly and artistically. This makes a gorgeous picture if you're a documentarian.
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Melt the butter completely in a small saucepan over medium heat. While on the heat, stir in the sugar. Add the flour and fresh nutmeg to taste. I love it so I add the larger amount.
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Off the heat, stir the butter and sugar mixture to blend well. Spread or dot evenly all over the top of the fruit.
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Pop the pie plate into the oven on the bottom rack. Cook for 10 minutes.
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After 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 350. Bake for about 35 minutes until the top is golden and the fruit is bubbling. Note: in the years I've been making this, the timing varies wildly based on the oven. In one place, it took 50 minutes. My new oven pulled it off a bit before the 35 minute mark, so keep your eye on it! Also, I've never had this pie run over in the oven, which is refreshing in a fruit pie.
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Cool before serving.
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