Warm Olallieberry Pie from Brothers Restaurant at Mattei’s Tavern

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PIE-A-DAY #25

This recipe comes to us from Stephanie Jackson, Pastry Chef at Brothers Restaurant at Mattei’s Tavern in Los Olivos, California.

Photo by Jessica Nicosia-Nadler from “Brothers Cuisine,Recipes from Santa Barbara, California Wine Country”

One of the best times of the year is when the first berries of the spring are ready, after the winter season I can’t wait to get my hands on some olallieberries! We buy ours locally from Rayberry Farms in Lompoc, California. The berries are only grown on the west coast, originating in Oregon, so they may be unfamiliar to some. They come from the blackberry family and are a cross between multiple varieties, which results in an extremely flavorful berry. Seeing as the name literally means “berry-berry.” This is one of my favorite desserts to make, sweet and a little tart berry filling covered by an all butter flaky pie crust. I love the idea of getting your own individual pie, which is how we serve it at the restaurant along with a scoop of house made white chocolate-olallie swirl ice cream. However, this recipe is for a regular whole pie. The olallieberries can be substituted with blackberries, just adjust the sugar depending on the sweetness of the berries. Everyone at Brothers loves this pie and we made sure to include it in Matt & Jeff Nichols’ cookbook, “Brothers Cuisine, Recipes from Santa Barbara, California Wine Country.”

Keep reading for the recipe…

Makes 1 9-inch pie

INGREDIENTS

Pie Dough:

3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 TBS sugar1 tsp salt

10 oz unsalted butter, cold and chopped

2 tsp white vinegar

3/4 cup to 1 cup ice-cold water

Olallieberry Filling:

6 TBS flour

1 cup superfine sugar

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

3 pints fresh olallieberries

2 TBS freshly squeezed orange juice

Zest of 1 orange, finely chopped

Egg wash (1 egg + 2 tsp water)

METHOD

To make the pie dough:

Sift the flour, sugar, and salt into a bowl of a standing mixer. Toss the butter into the flour, and place in freezer for 15 minutes. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Mix the vinegar and ice water together. Slowly add the liquid to the flour while mixing on low. Add just enoughliquid until the dough starts to form.

Divide the dough in half and flatten into disks. Wrap with plastic and chill until firm. Roll out dough on floured work surface into two large circles 1/8-inch thick. Line a 9-inch pie pan with bottom crust. Cut slits in center of top the crust, reserve.

To make the filling:

Whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Add the berries and toss well with the flour mixture. Add the orange juice and zest. Lets it for 10 minutes.

Fill the pie crust with the berry mixture. If the mixture has a lot of liquid, only add half of the liquid to the pie. To make the egg wash, beat together the egg with 2 teaspoons of water. Brush edge of the pie dough with the egg wash. Carefully cover pie with the top crust. Trim the excess edges with a knife and use fingertips to seal the crust. Chill the pie in the freezer until just firm, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375-F degrees. Brush the top of pie with egg wash and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Rotate pie and turn oven down to 350-F degrees.

Continue to bake until pie is golden brown and juices are bubbling out. Cool completely before serving.

To Serve:

Warm the pie in a 350-F degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Slice the pie and top each slice with a scoop of your favorite ice cream. Serve.

Stephanie Jackson

Pastry Chef Brothers Restaurant at Mattei’s Tavern

Los Olivos, California