Is bumbleberry pie a thing?

Quite often I get the urge to bake late into the evening (usually around the time I should be thinking about going to bed) and I get an idea in my head about what I want to bake before I even make sure we have all of the ingredients. This was the case last night when I decided to bake a "mixed berry pie" at 9pm.

I knew we had a bag of mixed berries in the freezer that we bought months ago for smoothies that we never made, and a left over pre-made pie crust from the last time we made quiche. So, with this in mind I set off to make us what I thought was called a mixed berry pie. Shortly into my preparations, I was informed that the proper terminology for mixed berry pie is in fact "bumbleberry pie". Which Wikipedia (my go-to for factual information) explains as a pie that contains at least 3 different types of berries...like who made this up and why are they so strict? Regardless, I was making a mixed-bumbleberry pie and the clock was ticking!

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret. I hate making homemade pie crust; I suck at it and it never tastes as good as the store-bought stuff. So, all of my pies have store-bought crusts and crumble topping. But for this pie, the crumble topping, that's where it got interesting.

Once the pie filling was made and in the shell, I realized we had run out of butter earlier in the day. Now, an important thing to know is that Maeghan and I live RIGHT downtown. One block from a Quickie (corner store) and 3 blocks from a 24 hour grocery store. However, I do not believe in leaving to get an ingredient, I believe in the internet and alterations. That's a lie I was just lazy.

So,  picture this...it's almost 10pm now, the oven is ready but the pie is topless because we have no butter. Then, I wonder "what do vegans make crumble topping out of?" (the answer is vegan butter by the way). But! I go where probably no skilled baker has ever gone and I make my crumble topping out of vegetable oil...don't judge me.

Once the pie was in the oven, I of course turned on the oven light and sat down near the window to watch it bake. Soon, the brown sugar in the makeshift crumble topping started to dissolve into the pie filling and I became increasingly worried for the fate of our late night snack. However, no need to worry because the pie turned out to be delicious and the crumble topping was arguably the best part.

Since my pie was a hit (with my fiancée that is...) I thought I would share my creative recipe with all of you!

Ingredients:
1 store-bought pie crust
1 cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup flour
3 or 4 cups of frozen mixed berries
Squeeze of lemon juice

For the crumble topping:
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup of oats
½ tsp. cinnamon
3 ish tablespoons of vegetable oil

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. In a glass bowl or measuring cup defrost the berries in the microwave. 
3. Mix the flour and sugar in with the berries. Add the squeeze of lemon juice. Now you've created your pie filling. 
4. Pour the filling into the pie crust. 
5. To make the crumble topping, mix all of the dry ingredients together. Once combined, add the vegetable oil. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top of the pie filling.
6. Bake for 45 minutes. 
7. ENJOY! (After letting it sit for about an hour, or don't let it sit and you'll be eating berry soup)