In 2022, at Knott's Berry Farm's annual Boysenberry Festival, which celebrates the berry that "started it all" for the Knott family, I bought what might be the ultimate theme park souvenir -
A boysenberry plant.
Thankfully, as a Californian, my house is within driving distance to Knott's, and though I have absolutely no green thumb whatsoever (despite my last name being Gardner, haha) I made the purchase. I thought about how cool it would be to actually grow something that was truly a piece of theme park history in my own backyard. Here's the video -
Year one, only one boysenberry popped up. We planted it in the ground and bought it a trellis, but it didn't become truly impressive until year two when suddenly, it really blossomed.
A month and a half later, we had enough for a pie and then some! As someone who has restrictive digestive issues, I'd never actually had a piece of Knott's Boysenberry pie. So I made some adjustments to the original recipe and enjoyed my first slice, from the berries in my own backyard. It was truly an awesome day and I just couldn't help but think it was the best theme park souvenir of all time. I'll drop my recipe below!
My recipe:
1 premade crust (I used Wholly Gluten Free)
3 cups fresh boysenberries (preferably from your OWN GARDEN!)
Sprinkle with lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour (I used Trader Joe's gluten free)
Mix
Top with crumble:
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tblsp butter
Mix
Bake 400 degrees for 40 minutes