How Do I Stop The Bottom Crust On My Blackberry And Apple Pie Becoming Soggy?

Our answer

Nigella has several sweet and savoury double crust pies, such as Blackberry and Apple Pie and Double Apple Pie (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS), Gluten-Free Apple And Backberry Pie and Egg And Bacon Pie. None of these have the bases blind baked before the filling and lid are added.

One of the potential problems with blind baking the base is that it becomes much more difficult to attach the top crust securely once the bottom crust has baked and if you don't form a tight seal then any filling will just bubble up and out of the pie. For most pies also the baking time should be long enough to cook the crust through. So we wonder if the problem could be in the filling being too wet. For Nigella's sweet pies the apple and other fruits are briefly cooked first and this releases some of the juices that would be trapped in the pie and would then sink into the base. When the filling is cooked, you may prefer to drain off any excess liquid before adding the fruit to the pie crust. If there is a lot of juice you can keep it, then serve it later in a small jug alongside the pie. It may also help to bake the pie in an ovenproof glass pie dish (such as a Pyrex dish) as it is then easier to see if the bottom crust has cooked properly - it should be golden brown all over without any large pale patches.