This plum-blackberry pie recipe and technique—from chef Laurent Gras and writer Mitchell Davis—can be adapted to use just about any summer fruit that you like. Try substituting the vanilla to your taste with almond extract or any liqueur. If working with extremely ripe and juicy fruit, add an extra tablespoon or two of cornstarch to adequately thicken the filling.
Featured in “4 Simple Steps to Baking Better Pie.”
Yield: Makes one 8-inch pie Time: 10 hours 50 minutes Ingredients For the pie crust: 3¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. sugar 1 tsp. kosher salt 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and chilled, plus more for greasing ⅓ cup vegetable shortening, chilled For the filling: 1 lb. fresh plums, pitted and sliced into ⅓-in. pieces (about 6 cups) 5 oz. fresh or frozen blackberries (about 1 cup) 3 Tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract ½ tsp. kosher salt ¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp. cornstarch Instructions Make the crust: In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter, incorporate the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse sand. Drizzle 5 tablespoons of cold water over the
