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Blackberries picked in the neighbourhood and baked inside golden flaky pastry.

Ingredients
PASTRY
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp granulated white sugar
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp cold water

FILLING
5 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
zest of one lemon
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch

FINISHING
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp granulated white sugar

Method
To make the pastry, I started by mixing together the flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. To that I added the vegetable shortening in pieces and blended the mixture until crumbly with a hand pastry blender. In a small bowl, I beat the egg with the vinegar and cold water and added the wet ingredients to the flour and shortening mixture, stirring with a fork to bring it all together. I divided the pastry into two balls and set one aside in the fridge. The other ball I rolled for the bottom crust and laid it in my 9-inch pie plate, tucking the edges under for a clean finish.

To prepare the filling, I combined the blackberries and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, I stirred together the sugar and cornstarch and added the mixture to the fruit, tossing gently to ensure all the fruit was coated. Then I poured the filling into the pie plate.

At this point I preheated my oven to 425 degrees (F) and took my other ball of pastry dough out of the fridge. I rolled it to the same thickness as my bottom crust and, using a small cookie cutter, made about twenty cut-outs.

To finish, I brushed the pastry edge of the pie and each cut-out with milk. I assembled the cut-outs over the filling, overlapping them but leaving plenty of gaps for steam to escape. A bit of sugar was sprinkled over top.

Sitting on a baking sheet to catch drips, I baked the pie at 425 degrees (F) for 15 minutes. Then I reduced the temperature to 375 degrees (F) and let it bake for another 45 minutes until the juices were bubbling up and the pastry was golden.

I let this pie sit for 3 hours before cutting to allow the filling to set.

For more photos of this recipe: http://www.familyfeedbag.com/2011/08/blackberry-pie.html