Blackberry Spider Web Pie

Celebrate fall and make a dessert with blackberries! It's not hard to do. Just use a few ingredients: blackberries, flour, butter, sugar, oats and black frosting. The addition of the spider web top makes for a fun Halloween treat.

You will need the following ingredients:

For the filling use:

• 4 - 5 cups of blackberries
• 1 Cup of Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

For the crumb topping use:

• 1/4 Cup Cold Butter
• 1/4 Cup All Purpose flour
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Rolled Oats

Black frosting for spider web

Small individual ramekins (4)

It is important to use fresh, good quality blackberries that are bright, plump and shiny. The flavor is very important because so few ingredients are used. The berries should be quite tart with very good flavor. Tart is good! We grow our own berries and have enough for several desserts over the fall and winter. You can find berries in season at local farmers markets and health food stores. Be careful about selecting berries from the grocery store because they can be bland tasting.

Cook the blackberries on low until soft and juice is in the pan. Decide how 'berried' your little pies should be. We use about 1/4 of the berries whole. The rest of the berries are sieved through a strainer. Mash as much of the pulp through as you can. Scrape the pulp off the bottom of the strainer into the pot.

In the pot on the stove, mix the blackberry pulp with 1 cup of sugar. Now you have to taste it. If it is too sour for you, add more sugar to taste. I like for the pies to have the same pucker factor as lemon curd. Next mix in the two tablespoons butter until melted. Then sprinkle or sift the flour into the pot. Mix together and stir constantly until the mixture is a little thickened.

Fill the ramekins to 1/2" from the top with the blackberry mixture.

In a bowl, cut the cold butter into small pieces with a knife. Add the remaining ingredients to make a crumb topping. You can add a 1/4 tsp each of cinnamon and vanilla to the crumb topping. Use your fingers to get the butter mixed into the dry ingredients. It should look crumbly and dry.

Add crumb topping to the top of the ramekins. Bake at 325F for 25 minutes in the oven.

Purchase or make black frosting.

Completely cool the pies before creating the spider webs. Using a small piping tip on a frosting bag, draw the spider web on top of your pie.

Now you are ready to eat. Add whipped cream and more berries if you like. Enjoy!