This perfect summer pie with a flaky, tender and golden crust is filled with juicy blackberries and a smooth cheesecake filling.
I realize now that my childhood was almost like a fairy tale. I grew up picking lots of blackberries each summer on our parents' property. We actually traipsed happily through the woods, swinging our pails, laughing and talking with my siblings and mom. I can still hear the berries pinging as we put them in our pails and still see our happy, blue stained lips and teeth as we snacked while we worked.
There is something so incredibly soul satisfying about being so close to nature, breathing in the fresh forest air. We would come home with SO many berries, that we would eat and eat until we had our fill and then Mom would make so many different things with the berries - jam, syrup for pancakes, smoothies, Berry Kompot, bake them into muffins and coffeecakes and of course, freeze tons of the berries so we could enjoy them all winter long.
When I saw the tiny packages of blackberries at grocery store, I got such a nostalgic feeling, I knew I had to make some sort of dessert with these beauties. A pie seemed like the logical action plan, but I wanted to make it extra special by making it into a Blackberry Cheesecake Pie. The crust is so delicious, I would make cookies with just the pie crust. The addition of sour cream makes it extra rich and not as crumbly. The bottom layer of the pie is a cheesecake filling, which is so smooth and creamy. I also added some lemon zest to the pie, giving it extra flavor. My husband absolutely raved about this pie and was so excited to take a slice with him to work for a few days too.
Ingredients:
Double Crust Pie Dough:
⅓ cup ice water
3 Tablespoons sour cream
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
16 Tablespoons butter, really cold, preferably cut into ¼ inch pieces and frozen for 10-15 minutes
Cheesecake Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
¼ teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ Tablespoons cornstarch
Berry Filling:
4-5 cups fresh blackberries (you can also use other fresh berries, like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or cherries)
½ -¾ cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
¼ teaspoon lemon zest
5 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Tablespoons butter, cold, cut into ¼ inch cubes
Egg Wash:
1 egg, lightly whisked with 1 Tablespoon water or milk
2 -4 teaspoons of sugar to sprinkle on top of the top crust
Instructions:
Pie Crusts:
I prefer to make the pie crusts in advance, so I usually make them the night before or even 2-3 days in advance.
Whisk the ice water and sour cream in a small bowl or measuring cup until combine and set it aside.
In a food processor, add the flour, sugar and salt until evenly mixed. Sprinkle in the chilled butter pieces and pulse to combine, until the butter pieces are the same size as large peas.
Pour in the water and sour cream mixture and pulse a few more times, until the mixture starts to come together. I don't wait until the air dough forms a ball, since it might become too wet. As soon as the pie dough starts to come together, I gather it onto the center of a floured counter and knead it just a few times to bring it all together.
Divide the dough in half and form it into a disc and then wrap it into parchment paper or aluminum foil. 
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or store it in the freezer for up to 1 month. As I said, I usually make the pie dough the night before I plan to make the pie.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Roll out one of the discs of the pie dough into a 12-14 inch circle. 
Ease it gently into a deep dish pie plate. (You can also use a regular pie pan, you will just not use all of the filling to fill up the pie.)
Place the pie plate into the refrigerator while you make the rest of the filling.
Cheesecake Filling:
In a standing mixer, combine the softened cream cheese, the sugar, egg, lemon zest, vanilla extract and cornstarch until the mixture is smooth. 
Pour it into the pie crust. Place back into the refrigerator or freezer.
Blackberry Filling:
In a large bowl, combine the berry filling. You can use just about any fresh berries that you like - raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, etc.
Gently mix the blackberries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and cornstarch. As the berry filling stands, the cornstarch will dissolve. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the berry filling on top of the cream cheese filling, leaving behind the extra liquid. Don't just dump in the berry filling, because otherwise the berry part will be too watery in the pie. For this same reason, don't use frozen berries for this recipe. They have a lot more water in them than fresh berries, which are watery to begin with, so if you use frozen berries, you will end up with a soupy pie.
Dot the 2 Tablespoons of butter over the surface of the berries.
Place the filled pie into the refrigerator while you work on the top crust. You can just trim the edges of the bottom crust and crimp the edges, and not use the top crust at all and after baking, you can add some whipped cream on top of the pie.
Roll out the second pie crust and make it into a lattice top, or whatever kind of topping you like. There are tons of tutorials online for creative pie crust creations. I made two braids that I incorporated into the basket weave lattice topping, and placed another braid around the edge of the pie crust, crimped the edges and cut out some leaves to place on the top crust.
Brush the top of the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with the 2-4 teaspoons of granulated sugar. 
Baking the Pie:
Place the pie on top of a rimmed baking sheet, in case the berry filling will spill out as it bakes. Bake for 45-60 minutes in the preheated 400 degrees Fahrenheit oven, depending on how golden you want the pie crust to be. I like mine really golden and crisp, so I baked it for the full hour.
Take the pie out of the oven and cool until completely cooled before serving it, otherwise the pie will fall apart and leak all over the place when you try to cut into it.
How yummy does that look? You can serve it with some whipped cream or ice cream too, if you want to make it even more luxurious.
Blackberry Cheesecake Pie
This perfect summer pie with a flaky, tender and golden crust is filled with juicy blackberries and a smooth cheesecake filling.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 mins
- Yield: 1 (9 inch) pie 1x
- Category: Sweets
Ingredients
Double Crust Pie Dough:
- ⅓ cup ice water
- 3 Tablespoons sour cream
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 16 Tablespoons butter, really cold, preferably cut into ¼ inch pieces and frozen for 10-15 minutes
Cheesecake Filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ Tablespoons cornstarch
Berry Filling:
- 4-5 cups fresh blackberries (you can also use other fresh berries, like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or cherries)
- ½ -¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon lemon zest
- 5 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons butter, cold, cut into ¼ inch cubes
Egg Wash:
- 1 egg, lightly whisked with 1 Tablespoon water or milk
- 2 -4 teaspoons of sugar to sprinkle on top of the top crust
Instructions
- I prefer to make the pie crusts in advance, so I usually make them the night before or even 2-3 days in advance.
- Whisk the ice water and sour cream in a small bowl or measuring cup until combine and set it aside.
- In a food processor, add the flour, sugar and salt until evenly mixed. Sprinkle in the chilled butter pieces and pulse to combine, until the butter pieces are the same size as large peas.
- Pour in the water and sour cream mixture and pulse a few more times, until the mixture starts to come together. I don't wait until the air dough forms a ball, since it might become too wet. As soon as the pie dough starts to come together, I gather it onto the center of a floured counter and knead it just a few times to bring it all together.
- Divide the dough in half and form it into a disc and then wrap it into parchment paper or aluminum foil. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or store it in the freezer for up to 1 month. As I said, I usually make the pie dough the night before I plan to make the pie.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Roll out one of the discs of the pie dough into a 12-14 inch circle. Ease it gently into a deep dish pie plate. (You can also use a regular pie pan, you will just not use all of the filling to fill up the pie.)
- Place the pie plate into the refrigerator while you make the rest of the filling.
- In a standing mixer, combine the softened cream cheese, the sugar, egg, lemon zest, vanilla extract and cornstarch until the mixture is smooth. Pour it into the pie crust. Place back into the refrigerator or freezer.
- In a large bowl, combine the berry filling. You can use just about any fresh berries that you like - raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, etc. Gently mix the blackberries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and cornstarch. As the berry filling stands, the cornstarch will dissolve. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the berry filling on top of the cream cheese filling, leaving behind the extra liquid. Don't just dump in the berry filling, because otherwise the berry part will be too watery in the pie. For this same reason, don't use frozen berries for this recipe. They have a lot more water in them than fresh berries, which are watery to begin with, so if you use frozen berries, you will end up with a soupy pie.
- Dot the 2 Tablespoons of butter over the surface of the berries.
- Place the filled pie into the refrigerator while you work on the top crust. You can just trim the edges of the bottom crust and crimp the edges, and not use the top crust at all and after baking, you can add some whipped cream on top of the pie.
- Roll out the second pie crust and make it into a lattice top, or whatever kind of topping you like. There are tons of tutorials online for creative pie crust creations. I made two braids that I incorporated into the basket weave lattice topping, and placed another braid around the edge of the pie crust, crimped the edges and cut out some leaves to place on the top crust.
- Brush the top of the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with the 2-4 teaspoons of granulated sugar. Place the pie on top of a rimmed baking sheet, in case the berry filling will spill out as it bakes. Bake for 45-60 minutes in the preheated 400 degrees Fahrenheit oven, depending on how golden you want the pie crust to be. I like mine really golden and crisp, so I baked it for the full hour.
- Take the pie out of the oven and cool until completely cooled before serving it, otherwise the pie will fall apart and leak all over the place when you try to cut into it.
Can you use canned blackberries if you don’t have fresh ones?
I have never tried using canned blackberries, so I can't say for sure if that is a good substitution.
We have a lot of blackberries this year! I made this pie yesterday. Good recipe! Thank you,Olga!
I am going to put 3/4 cup of sugar in berries next time. I put 1/2cup and it is a little sour for our liking. Other way it is great!
That is the most gorgeous pie I've ever seen! Can't wait to make it.
Thank you!
Hi, can I use frozen blackberries? (Thawed out)
Hi Victoria,
I don't recommend using frozen berries. They have a lot more water in them than fresh berries, which are watery to begin with, so if you use frozen berries, you might end up with a soupy, very "liquidy" pie.
Hello, beautiful pie!! What kind of food processor do you have ?
I love cheesecake pie! Yum.
Olga, I just stumbled onto your site and found your videos on YouTube! You and your family are so sweet and I love you're recipes. Thankyou for sharing! I hope things are going well for you with baby number 2!
Today I tried to bake this beautiful pie everything turns out great except my filling. I make with huckleberry and it's turned like "kasha" my whole berry filling.i think the huckleberry isn't work with this pie
Hello,
Just wanted to let you know I made this last weekend and it was delicious! I'm usually not a pie fan but I loved it. The crust is usually my least favorite part and the googie overly sweet baked fruit is usually 2nd least favorite. Well everything about this pie was awesome. I loved the crust, flakey, & soft. I used blackberries and blueberries that we picked and with the cream cheese filling it was so good! Thanks, now just gotta practice my lattice making.
Your comment just made me smile:). To be honest, I am not a fan of most pies either, so I can relate to you. I'm so happy that you enjoyed this pie!
I made this pie yesterday and had to write a review, this pie is the best pie I have eaten! It was soooo good! Husband liked it, kids liked, and I could tell father in law liked it because he ate two slices!!! I ended up making it out of blueberries. The only thing I had to change was cover with foil the last 30 minutes. It got crisp and golden fast.
I'm so happy to hear that, Alla! Thank you so much for taking the time to write.
What a gorgeous crust! I collect pictures of pie crusts because I am not a creative person but I can follow someone else's design. This is definitely going into my pie folder. Thanks so much!
I love getting ideas from other people too, Liz. I hope you enjoy this pie once you make it.
This is the most beautiful thing I've seen all summer! Just... Wow.😍
I don't have any blackberries on hand but I do have some blueberries, raspberries and wild huckleberries. If I mix the three, do you think that would make a good mixture? I'm tempted to try!
As I wrote in the recipe, any fresh berries will work in this pie, Marina.
Omg wow olya luv blackberries totally summer definitely gotta try sometime how long do I freeze the cream cheese mixture beautiful presentation and so very yummmm tantalizing and scrumptious love fruit and cheese job well done sweetheart enjoy the summer while it lasts cheers
You don't have to freeze the cream cheese mixture, Tzivia. You just have to keep the pie crust cold at all times while you are assembling the pie. Just keep it in the refrigerator while you are making the berry filling and rolling out the top crust, etc. If it takes you longer to roll out or shape the crusts, your pie crust might start to get too warm, which is why you might want to put it in the freezer for only 10-15 minutes or so, to firm it up quickly. If you work fast, just keep it the refrigerator.
Okay great thanx tons Olga darlin I will just work very fast with the dough gotta buy lots of extra ingredients but so very worth it enjoy the rest of your weekend cheers
Wow, your pie looks so so beautiful! Especially compared to what mine usually look like 😀
The real test is in how it tastes:). I hope you enjoy it, Sophie.
Work of art! How beautiful! I will make this with blueberries tomorrow since they are in full harvest now. Beautiful presentation and gorgeous pictures!
Blueberries would be awesome in this recipe. I hope you enjoyed it, Valya.