Buttery Berry Pie Recipes

MIXED BERRY PIE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix flour and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Divide dough into 2 portions so that 1 is slightly larger than the other. Shape each into a disk. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight., For filling, in a large saucepan, whisk sugar, cornstarch, salt, water and, if desired, cinnamon until smooth; add blueberries. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Cool slightly., Preheat oven to 400°. Gently fold raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and lemon juice into blueberry mixture. On a lightly floured surface, roll out larger portion of dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate. Add filling; dot with butter., Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; cut into 1/2-in.-wide strips. Arrange over filling in a lattice pattern. Trim and seal strips to edge of bottom crust; flute edge. Bake 10 minutes. , Reduce oven setting to 350°; bake 45-50 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

GINGERY MIXED BERRY PIE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips until well combined and fragrant. Stir in the cornstarch, fresh ginger and candied ginger (if using). Add the blueberries, blackberries and raspberries to the bowl. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the top, but don't stir quite yet. Let sit while you make the dough.
• Place one disk of the pie dough on a lightly floured surface. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12-inch-wide circle 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Fit it into a 9-inch pie dish, trim any rough edges, leaving a 1-inch overhang, and set it in the fridge while you roll the other crust and cut the lattice.
• Roll the second disk of pie dough into a circle roughly 12 inches wide and 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Use a pastry wheel or knife to cut the dough into strips about 1 1/2 inches wide.
• Gently stir the filling together until well mixed and pour it into the pie dish. Press gently to pack down the berries into the dish.
• Weave the dough strips into a lattice. Trim off any excess dough and fold the edges of the bottom crust up and over the lattice strips. Crimp together the edges. Slide the whole pie into the freezer until the crust is very firm, about 15 minutes. While the pie is chilling, heat the oven to 400 degrees and set a rack in the bottom third of the oven.
• After the pie has chilled, place it on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Beat the egg, then brush the top of the pie with the egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar and flaky salt.
• Bake the pie until it is deep golden brown and the juices are bubbling, 45 to 55 minutes. If the crust begins to burn before the filling bubbles, tent it with aluminum foil. Cool before serving.

BERRY APPLE-BUTTER PIE

Steps:

• Make the apple butter: In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine the apples, sugar, ginger, cider vinegar and apple cider. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples begin to soften and break down, 25 to 30 minutes, reducing the heat as necessary to prevent scorching.
• Add the raspberries and blackberries and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute, stirring to prevent scorching, then turn off the heat. Use a potato masher or immersion blender to break the mixture down to a coarse purée, being careful not to turn it into a paste.
• Return the pot to medium heat and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until it thickens, 15 to 20 minutes; the apple butter is ready when you can dip a spoon into the pot and lift it out without any of the mixture dripping. You should have about 5 cups of apple butter. If you have too much, return it to the pot and continue to cook until you reduce it to 5 cups. Cool completely.
• On a lightly floured surface and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out a disk of dough into a circle about ¼-inch thick. Starting at one end, gently roll up the dough onto the rolling pin. Unfurl the dough over a 9-inch pie plate, preferably ceramic, and press it in lightly, making sure it's lining the plate.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the egg into the cooled apple butter until well combined. Pour into the prepared crust and smooth into an even layer. Refrigerate while you prepare the top crust, about 15 minutes.
• Roll out second disk of dough to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out triangles with 1-inch sides, or other similarly sized shapes, from the middle portion of the crust, leaving a 3-inch border. (You don't want cutouts on the portion you're going to crimp.) You can use a cutter, trace from a paper stencil or cut the shapes freehand with a paring knife. Place the cutouts at least ¾ inch apart. Remove and discard the cutouts, or egg wash them and use the same day to decorate another pie.
• Remove the pie from the refrigerator. Starting at one end of the top crust, gently roll up the crust onto the rolling pin. Gently unfurl the top crust onto the pie, aiming the portion with cutouts over the center of the pie. Trim away any excess crust with scissors, leaving ½ inch all the way around the outside rim of the pie plate. Pinch the edges together to seal, tuck them under, and crimp as desired. Return the pie to the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
• While the crust chills, place a rack on the bottom shelf of the oven, and place a baking stone, if you have one, on the rack. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Transfer the pie to the baking sheet, and egg wash the top crust. (Don't egg wash the crimped edges; they'll brown on their own.)
• Sprinkle with turbinado sugar and transfer the baking sheet to the oven, placing it directly on the baking stone if using. Bake until the top crust is evenly golden brown and the filling has puffed up slightly, 40 to 45 minutes. If the crust is browning too quickly, you can tent it with foil in the last 10 to 15 minutes.
• Cool pie on a rack at least 40 minutes before slicing and serving. The pie is best the day it is baked; store leftovers at room temperature covered tightly with plastic wrap.

TRIPLE BERRY PIE

Steps:

• Cook berries: Add berries, sugar and lemon juice to a large saucepan over medium heat.
• Simmer, until warm and juicy, about 5-10 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. (You can taste it at this point and see if it's sweet enough for your liking. I don't like to make mine too sweet, but if you want it sweeter you can add 1/4 cup more sugar.)
• Thicken filling: Spoon out about 1/2 cup of the juice from the pan into a bowl. Stir cornstarch into the juice until smooth.
• Bring pot of berries back to a simmer and slowly pour in the cornstarch. Gently stir mixture (being careful not to mash the berries), until thickened, about 2-5 minutes.
• Cool and add to pie shell. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell (in a 9 in deep dish pan).
• Add lattice top or a whole top with holes pricked on top for steam to escape. (See directions for lattice crust below).
• Pinch the edges of the top and bottom pie crusts together and crimp the edge, if you like. Brush a thin layer of beaten egg white over the top of the pie and sprinkle lightly with sugar.
• Bake at 400 degrees F for 40-45 minutes. Check it after about 25 minutes and place a piece of tinfoil over it if the top crust is getting too brown.
• Remove to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool for several hours. Once cooled completely, you can cut into it or cover it and refrigerate it overnight to serve the next day.

BLUEBERRY-LEMON PIE WITH A BUTTER CRUST

Steps:

• For the flaky butter pie crust: Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and cut it in with a pastry blender until the largest pieces are the size of small peas and the mixture begins to clump on the pastry blender. Shuffle through the mixture with your hands, pinching chunks of fat to flatten them.
• Stir the vinegar and 5 tablespoons ice water together in a bowl. Add the liquid to the flour mixture and stir with a fork. Pinch a clump of dough in your hands: If it feels moist and clumps together easily, it's probably hydrated enough. If it feels really crumbly, add another tablespoon or two of ice water until you can form a baseball-size clump of dough, packing it on as if you were making a snowball.
• Divide the dough in half and form each half into a flat disk. Wrap both disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
• Thirty minutes before you're ready to roll out the dough, remove it from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature to soften. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• For the blueberry filling: In a bowl, toss the blueberries with the sugar, cornstarch and lemon zest and juice and mix until combined.
• Dust a worktop and rolling pin with flour. Roll out one dough disk a little less than 1¿4 inch thick, about 14 inches in diameter. Fold the dough in half and transfer it to a 9- or 10-inch pie plate. Unfold. Press the dough into the corners, leaving the overhang for now. Refrigerate the first crust while you roll out the second disk of dough.
• Remove the bottom crust from the refrigerator and fill it with the berry mixture. Tuck the pats of cold butter beneath the top layer of berries. Top with the second piece of dough, and trim both to a 1/2-inch overhang around the pie. Tuck the overhang into a roll and crimp the edge, pressing down to hook some of the dough over the edge of the dish, holding the pie. Cut a hole in the center of the pie, as well as some decorative vents.
• Brush the top of the pie with cream and dust it with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes. Cover the edges of the pie with foil and continue to bake until the center juices bubble and thicken, 25 to 35 minutes more.
• Let the pie cool until it is just warm to the touch before slicing and serving. Top with ice cream.

BUTTERY BERRY PIE

Steps:

• To make the pie dough, put 2 cups of the flour in the freezer for 15 minutes. Add the butter, toss well and put back in the freezer for another 15 minutes.
• Dump the flour and butter mixture onto a work surface and, using a rolling pin, mush them together quickly. Sweep in the stray piles of flour and bits of butter and continue rolling. This is a messy procedure as the mixture sticks to everything. Use your hands to remove pieces stuck to the work surface and gently roll them back into the flour and butter.
• Combine the sour cream and the salt in a large bowl. Add the dough and, using a rubber spatula, mix to combine as well as possible. Use your hands to bring it together to form 2 rounds.
• Sprinkle the work surface with the remaining flour and roll out 1 piece of dough. Fold it onto itself and roll again. Do this 3 times to each piece of dough, then pat each into a flat round and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• To make the filling, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine the sugar and tapioca and toss them with the berries, lemon juice and salt.
• Dust the work surface with the graham-cracker crumbs and roll out 1 round of dough on top of the crumbs, turning once to dust each side. Line a 9-inch pan with the dough. Pour in the berries. Roll out the other round on the remaining crumbs, cut decorative steam vents near the center and lay it loosely over the mounded fruit. Crimp the edges together firmly and flute.
• Combine the egg and cream. Brush the crust with the mixture, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 to 40 more minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling.