Make the most of sweet summer fruit while it’s in season by baking them into this cherry-berry pie. Need a taste of sumer sunshine in the dead of winter? Don’t despair- you can also use frozen berries to make this pie year-round.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- 1⁄4 cup quick-cooking tapioca
- Pinch of salt
- 2 cups pitted sweet cherries
- 1⁄2 pound raspberries (11⁄2 cups)
- 1⁄2 pound blackberries (11⁄2 cups)
- 1⁄2 pound blueberries (11⁄2 cups)
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
*1 recipe All-Butter Pie Crust (recipe follows below), or pie crust recipe of your choice (enough for a double crust pie)
Preparation:
Prepare pie crust, as outlined below.
In a small bowl, whisk 1 cup of sugar with the tapioca and salt. In another bowl, toss the cherries with the raspberries and blueberries. Sprinkle with the sugar mixture and toss gently.
Mix the flour and the remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar. Sprinkle in the bottom crust; tap out the excess. Spoon the filling into the crust.
Using a fluted pastry wheel, cut the remaining dough into 3/4-inch-wide strips. Arrange the strips across the pie in a lattice pattern. Trim the overhanging strips to 1/2 inch and press them to the crust. Pinch the rim between your fingers to flute it. Freeze the pie for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 400°. Brush the cream over the lattice crust and rim and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in the upper third of the oven for 1 hour, or until the crust is richly browned and the filling starts to bubble. If necessary, cover the pie with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking. Let cool on a rack until warm before serving.
*All-Butter Pie Crust: this recipe makes two 9-inch pie crusts
Ingredients:
- 2 1⁄2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) very cold butter, cubed or cut into small pieces
- 6 to 8 tablespoons ice cold water
- Egg wash (optional– 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water or milk)
1. In a large bowl or mixer, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the butter pieces and cut them into the flour mixture, working until big, coarse crumbs form. Add ice cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix in until the dough holds together.
2. Divide the dough into 2 mounds. Wrap each mound in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes to overnight. Let the dough stand for at least 15 minutes before rolling it out.
3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface or between 2 pieces of parchment or wax paper, then place the rolled-out dough in the pie pan and press into place.
4. For pies with tops, brush a little water on the edges of the bottom crust before adding the top crust and crimp the edges of the top and bottom crusts together with your fingers to seal them all around the pie. You can use your fingers, thumb, fork, or the back of a teaspoon to add a design along the ridges. Also, gently lift the edges from the pan a bit (this will help make it easier to cut and serve slices of the baked pie later on). Make little slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape. If desired, you can add some extra decoration to the top crust using little pieces of scrap dough cut out in shapes such as flowers or leaves. Brush the top crust with an egg wash, place on the decorative bits, and sprinkle with sanding sugar (or caster sugar) for a sparkly top.
Tips for Better Butter Crust Pie Dough: Make sure the ingredients are very cold, and make sure not to overwork the dough—that’s really the key. I recommend sticking all your ingredients in the freezer or refrigerator for an hour or so to get everything really cold. You may even want to put whatever tool you’ll be using to cut in the butter- this will keep the butter from melting prematurely and turning your crust into an oily mess.