Individual Berry Pies with Buckwheat Streusel
On my way to the coffee pot this morning, I walked past the pie leftover from last night’s BBQ and could not resist taking a bite. Then I took another, and even another! As much as I like pie piping hot from the oven, I think that it really shines at room temperature the next day.
When pie sits, especially for a day or two after being baked, the flavor and texture of the crust, filling and topping have a chance to mingle and meld with one another. The delineation between each layer blurs, with the crust and streusel slightly softened and perfumed by the jamminess of the filling.
Early last month a long time very enthusiastic pie purchasing customer humbly emailed, asking if we might be making our Summer Berry Pie soon. Her birthday was coming up and she’s been dreaming of a slice. Without a moment of hesitation, I answered yes and out of curiosity asked how she would like the pie topped -- Double Crust, Lattice or Streusel? And if streusel, which one, Buckwheat, Ginger or Oat? She responded with my personal favorite, the Buckwheat streusel, and so we had pie on the menu last week.
Knowing that Stephen and I were having a family BBQ on Monday, I made a pie for us as well. To make things easier, I baked Monday’s pie on Sunday with the preorders. As our dinner wound down and the sky swirled with brushstrokes of pink candy cotton fluff, one of the kids slipped the pie into the warm oven. It emerged, warm but not hot, softened but not crisp, and slices were scooped onto plates.
Pie making is always a leap of faith. You never know quite what you are going to get until that first bite and by then it is obviously too late to make any changes. In the bakery, we have the ability to test pie after pie before settling on the ratio of fruit and sugar, and the proper ratio of crust to filling so that everything is in balance. Even then, year after year as our palates change or ideas come to mind, we continue to tinker with them.
The Summer Berry Pie is a mix of Marionberries, raspberries and local strawberries. We toss the fruit with sugar and cornstarch (when used sparingly, cornstarch is a valued ingredient), and a slather of our homemade strawberry jam. The amount of sugar and jam used is minimal enough to sweeten the filling while maintaining the integrity of the tart berries. The filling is spooned into our rich and flakey laminated pie dough and topped with buckwheat streusel. We use local buckwheat flour from Camas Country Mill. It’s flecked purple and concrete grey and is the perfect pairing for a sweet filling, as the assertive winey flavor of the flour tempers the sweetness.
This weekend as our special item we are making Individual Summer Berry Pies only for our valued Newsletter subscribers. The pie will be a 4-inch single-serving size. When you’re ordering, keep in mind that the pie only gets better with age, and consider ordering an extra one or two for yourself or friends for the coming days! Available to our newsletter subscribers only, so be sure to join our email list for access to all future Secret Newsletter Items.
We appreciate this customer, who has maintained a large order with us every weekend, as well as everyone else who has shown up for us always, and especially during the pandemic. We are very grateful to be able to bake for each of you every weekend, as we continue to get back on our feet.
Thank you today and always,