Blackberry Sweet Dough Pie with delicate pastry focuses on the burst of juicy flavor from sweet blackberries picked fresh. It is a dish that brings me back to a time long ago and the flavors I long for.
Among my fondest memories of growing up in the Deep South are picking pails of fresh blackberries in the summer. I still recall the sweltering hot days navigating the long fence line of bramble bushes plucking one juicy morsel after another. It seemed like a small-town, rite of passage for a barefoot boy doing his part to bring a tasty treasure to the dinner table.
Blackberry Sweet Dough Pie and a hot cup of Louisiana coffee–a perfect start to the day. (All photos credit: George Graham)
Preserves, jellies and cobblers are the typical southern recipes for blackberries, but in South Louisiana, blackberry sweet dough pie is the ultimate prize. Acadiana’s culinary culture of Cajun cooking has a sweet dough heritage. Throughout the South Louisiana countryside, you can’t check out at a country store counter without being tempted by the allure of sweet dough pies.
Before a devastating fire, Hubig’s pies from New Orleans were sold everywhere, and hopefully they will be back in stores in 2020. And who in Acadiana didn’t grow up eating the classic ginger cakes from LeJeune’s Bakery in Jeanerette. These commercial pie makers have been baking for over 100 years, and smaller artisan bakers have carried on the sweet dough tradition. It is a time-honored art that is as alive today as ever. My local produce market makes a variety of individual tarts with blackberry my favorite, but it seems the largest selling pies are fig, coconut, and sweet potato.
Mo Mo Eve, my wife’s grandmother, God rest her soul, was renowned for her sweet dough–the best in Jeff Davis Parish, they say. Rox says her secret was flaky dough and a light hand with the sugar. Here is a simple Cajun recipe for Blackberry Sweet Dough Pie that I think will do her proud.
Yes, indeed. Fresh blackberries in the summer make life in South Louisiana just a little bit sweeter.
Blackberries grow wild in South Louisiana
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup milk
- 3 cups fresh blackberries
- 1 beaten egg, for egg wash
- 1 tablespoon water
- Combine the dry ingredients by sifting the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, add the softened butter and whisk in half the sugar and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Add in the eggs and milk along with the dry ingredients and mix together until combined. On a cutting board sprinkled with flour, dump out the mixture and form into a dough ball. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until it is chilled.
- In a heavy pot over medium heat, add two cups of blackberries and the remaining sugar. Stir the mixture until the berries cook down, the sugar begins to melt, and the filling just begins to thicken. Remove from the stovetop and pour into a bowl. Let the filling cool to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. On a surface sprinkled lightly with flour, roll out the dough to approximately ¼-inch thick. With a 5-inch plate as a guide, cut out 4 dough circles. Spoon 3 or 4 tablespoons of the blackberry filling into the center of each pie dough. Leave an inch of the dough around the edges. Fold the outer part of the dough circle just over the edge of the filling and overlap it in a rustic pattern. Neatness doesn’t count here. Try to give it a rough, handmade look.
- From the additional 1 cup of blackberries, top the exposed fruit filling by artfully placing in whole berries. Add the beaten egg to a bowl and whisk with water to make an egg wash. With a brush, coat the pastry with the egg wash. Place the pies on a silicone mat or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until the dough turns a crisp and golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Remove the pies to a platter and serve either piping hot or at room temperature with a cup of dark roast Louisiana coffee.
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Nothing better than fresh sweet dough pie.
I have been looking for a recipe for sweet dough for awhile now. Yours looks like the real deal. Thanks. (Making them tomorrow!)
looks delightful!
Been searching for this thank you.
My family attended the Experience Louisiana Festival last weekend in Eunice and tasted sweet dough pies for the first time. They were filled with figs. Delicious! We always pick dewberries on Mother’s Day weekend, so I will be adding these pies to our traditions, as my mother was born in Opelousas. It will be a nice way to remember her roots. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Suzette- I was at the festival in Eunice early Saturday morning; it was a glorious celebration of South Louisiana music and food. Sweet dough pies are a culturally significant dish and so glad you discovered them. In fact, if you are in the area, make a trip on Sat Oct 24, 2015 to Grand Coteau (just north of Lafayette) for the Sweet Dough Pie Festival. Best, George
I grew up in Lafayette and graduated from Comeaux High School. I had to move away to North Louisiana shortly thereafter, where I still live today. I love to read the stories of those who still live in that area as I still consider it my home. I take every opportunity to go home whenever I can. Thank you so much for sharing. I don’t like blackberries or raspberries or any other berries with seeds. Could I make this with another type of fruit?
Leigh- Thanks for sharing your thoughts on missing your home. And Acadiana misses you as well. Some of the best sweet dough pies I’ve tasted don’t use berries. Sweet potato, peach, and fig are just a few. Get creative and paint your pie canvas with any “colors” you like. Best, George
How many regular pies does this make?
Molly-
The recipe will make four 5-inch pies. Enjoy.
George
My mother in law made THE BEST sweet dough pies. Sweet potato was my favorite but she also made fig, blackberry, coconut, peach and syrup. So happy she entrusted me with her recipe.
Wanda- Sweet food memories are to savor. Thanks for sharing.
Can I have the recipe please?
Thanks from Lawtell, Louisiana
Hey Pam- And thanks to you!
My grandmother used to make these. I have her sweet dough recipe but I can’t find a recipe for the syrup mixture. Anyone have a recipe for syrup part?
My grandmother was born and raised in Eunice, Louisiana. She also baked sweet dough syrup pies, they were delicious. I too, would love to have the recipe for the syrup filling.
Hey Margaret – For the filling, follow the recipe combining blackberries and sugar until thickened (add a bit of pectin to thicken more). All the best.
Am comparing all Sweet Dough recipes I can find. Wish I had my grandmother’s. I was raised in BELL CITY, and I loved the sweet dough pies. This compares a lot to a recipe from my Aunt in Cameron Parish. Will try it.
Hey Lois-
Sweet dough culture is a part of the culinary landscape of Louisiana, and you are fortunate to have a heritage of pie-making in your family. I applaud you for keeping the tradition alive and sharing it with others. All the best for a sweet life.
Instead of using butter I use Crisco all vegetable shortening
Have you ever made your sweet dough pie crust with Crisco or Lard
Barb-
Yes. If you can befriend a pig farmer and get your hands on some leaf lard, your piecrust will be heavenly. Better than any other fat in making piecrust.
All the best.
Hi, I was born and raised in Kinder Louisiana, my grandma used to make sweet dough fig pies and blackberry. I’ve been looking for a recipe close to hers. She never wrote it down. I will try your recipe because it seems authentic. Thanks I will sure try this out since it’s blackberry season!
Hey Kristin- So many sweet doughs and too little time. I love making these pies, and when blueberry, blackberry, or figs are in season, you’ll find these little hand pies baking in my oven. All the best.
Just ate my first sweet dough pie from Neeses in Crowley La . Yours was the first recipe I liked so I’m going to give it a try next week when I get home to Indiana. Lived in the New Orleans area for 25 years my son and his family (married a local girl) live in Rayne. I love to share these wonderful treats with the Yankees up north. I sure miss La !!
Hey Karen –
Great to hear your story, and glad you got to sample one of South Louisiana’s culinary delicacies. All the best, and return soon.
I made these sweet dough pies recently while camping. They were a huge hit! Everyone enjoyed them. Great recipe!
Hey Carol- Thanks so much.
Thanks, just visited my hometown Opelousas,LA
and purchased a sweet dough blackberry tart @
Billy ‘s Boudain & Cracklings store. My Mom made the best sweet dough pies, looks just like yours except
she made a lattice design for top crust.
Will definitely try your recipe.
Taste and smell memories are so powerful. I can remember specific moments from my childhood over 5 decades ago when a great-aunt made these. Thank you.
Lisette- Food brings back vivid memories , and these little pies recall the sweetest of all. All the best.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. BlackBerry picking in South Louisiana is a most favorite pastime, as well as visits to LeJuenes bakery to get that fresh French bread. Mais yeah Cher! You haven’t lived until you’ve tried it. My dad would bring a stick of butter along with us for the 45 minute drive. Ah, the good ole days in Cajunland. Hubig pies are another family favorite. Coconut please!
Hey Charis- thanks for sharing your memories; I especially love the stick of butter for the ride home. Priceless. All the best.
I am a Mainer (Maniac) of Acadian descent and on the first day of 2021 which is hardly three hours from now – will whip up some of this sweet dough stuff and have at it! Happy New Year Y’awl!
When I was a child, we would go to the back of our property and pick berries for my mother to make sweet dough pies. They were so awesome! We would also sneak pieces of pie crust dough because it was so good! I know that the pie crust that my mother made had nutmeg in the crust, but the recipe that I found after her death does not include nutmeg. I don’t think that it included cinnamon, but I have seen a few of the recipes that include both. Do you have a recipe with nutmeg in it? I really enjoy reading all of your posts!
Vickie- Thanks for the positive words. No, I do not have a nutmeg pie-crust recipe. Sweet dough pies are like many Cajun and Creole recipes; no two are alike. They are handed down through generations, and the only common ingredient is love. Keep looking for your recipe; the search is half the fun. All the best.