Glazed Berry Pie

Boysenberry season is here, and since I can actually get them at our tiny farmers' market, I take advantage. Boysenberries are hard to find, and are usually only available at farmers' markets that are geographically close to the growers. The season is extremely short, and because boysens are fragile, they don't travel or store well. If you find some, use them within a few days or they will crap out on you.

I've loved boysens since I was a kid; a visit to my grandparents in Anaheim always meant at least one trip to Knott's Berry Farm for fried chicken and boysenberry pie at the creatively-named Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant. I'm pretty sure that riding the mini-train out front with my grandpa is what started my lifelong love of train travel, and my grandmother's patience while I rode Montezuma's Revenge 10,000 times enabled my penchant for thrill-seeking and roller-coasting. I can only imagine how many dish towels she knitted while I rode until I made myself hurl.

A couple of years ago, I found a recipe for Boysenberry-Strawberry Glazed Pie in the Los Angeles Times. I made some adaptations to it, and now we have it at least once per season.
If boysenberries aren't available, you can swap in blackberries.

Ingredients:

1 basket boysenberries, rinsed & divided
1/2 basket blackberries, rinsed & divided (not shown because they were a late addition when I realized I didn't have enough boysens)
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbs cornstarch
Pinch salt
1 basket strawberries, rinsed (slice the large ones)
1 Oreo cookie crust
Rosemary, vanilla, & black pepper-infused cream, optional

Crush 3/4 cup boysens & 1/4 cup blackberries into the bottom of a small saucepan (I use the bottom of a measuring cup to avoid scratching my non-stick surface). Add the water and cook over low heat long enough to soften the berries, around 2 minutes. Push the berry mix through a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl to extract the seeds then return the juices to the pan.

In a small bowl, use a fork to combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually pour this mix into the berry juices in the saucepan while whisking constantly to avoid clumps. Cook over medium-high heat, and continue to whisk until the sauce starts to thicken, about 4-5 minutes.

Work that wrist!

Place a layer of strawberries in the pie shell. I use the sliced ones in this layer. Scatter half of the remaining boysens and blacks on top of the strawberries. (In order to prevent the crust from getting soggy, I roll the berries around on a paper towel to soak up the rinse water beforehand.)

Top with a thin layer of sauce. Repeat with a second layer, adding the rest of the berries and sauce over the top. Use the back of a spatula to spread the glaze evenly over the top of the berries and to smooth out the top.

Chill pie at least 30 mins in the fridge before serving.
Serve topped with the infused cream, if using. You can also swap in creme fraiche or regular whipped cream.

I don't have a pie server.

Super-easy, no-bake yum!