Blackberry Buttermilk Pie

(inspired by Mark Miller’s Coyote Café cookbook)

Lemon-Spiked Pie Crust  (inspired by Food & Wine and Fine Cooking magazines) 
(yields enough for two 9” pie shells)

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
 ¼ cup toasted pine nuts (optional, but so tasty)
 2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
 1 tsp. salt
6 oz. (12 Tbs.) cold unsalted butter, cut into small dice
2 oz. (4 Tbs.) cold nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening
¼ cup ice-cold water plus 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, pine nuts, lemon zest, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, add the cold cubed butter and mix just until coarse and crumbly. Then add the cold shortening and mix until most pieces are almost incorporated. Gradually add the lemon water, 1 to 2 Tbs. at a time, until the mixture looks shaggy but moist enough to hold together. Dust your hands with flour, gently shape the dough into two equal disks. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for at least 60 minutes, but preferably 2 to 4 hours, before rolling. Use one for this pie, the other will keep in the fridge for a week, or freeze for later use. When chilled, roll out one portion of dough about 1/8” thick on to a piece of parchment paper dusted with a little bit of cornmeal (this gives it a bit more texture) and then fit it into the pie plate. Chill this in the freezer while you prepare the filling.  Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Buttermilk Filling-

3 large eggs
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
4 oz. unsalted butter, melted
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar
1 cup buttermilk
½ vanilla bean, split and scraped or 1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 cups fresh blackberries tossed with 1 Tablespoon of flour

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, flour, and sugar until well mixed. Beat in the buttermilk, alternating with the melted butter. Add the lemon and lime zests and lemon juice. Sprinkle floured blackberries over the pie shell. Gently pour buttermilk custard over the berries. (Don’t worry if the berries rise to the top.) Place on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes to set up the crust. Reduce oven to 350 degrees and bake for additional 40 minutes until custard is set. If the edges of the pie are browning too quickly, cover them with a strip of aluminum foil.  After 40 minutes, you can check the center of the pie with the tip of a knife; there will be a bit of melted butter on it but the knife should test clean. You can give it a few more minutes, but remember, it continues to set up as it cools. The top should be crackly and the blackberries should peek through. Set aside on a rack to cool, then place in the fridge. If you really want to paint the town, or if it just happens to be cinco de Mayo, serve the pie with…
Tequila Whipped Cream
¾ cup heavy cream
3 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 Tablespoon tequila (gold, if you have it)
¼ teaspoon lime zest

Place the cream in a chilled mixer bowl. Beat with whisk attachment, starting on slow. Add confectioners’ sugar and increase speed to medium. Continue beating until cream is thick but be careful not to overbeat. I like to finish whipping the cream by hand (use the same whisk attachment) because you have a bit more control. Add the tequila and the zest and give the cream a few more turns with the whisk. Serve alongside the pie, or on top of the pie, or both.

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