Summer Berry Pie Recipes

MILE-HIGH SUMMER BERRY PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: Pulse the flour, granulated sugar and salt in a food processor. Add about one-third of the butter; process until incorporated. Pulse in the remaining butter until coarse crumbs form, 5 or 6 pulses. Add the vodka or vinegar, then pour in the ice water, pulsing quickly as you pour. Pinch the dough; it should just hold together. If it's too crumbly, quickly pulse in up to 2 more tablespoons ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Turn out the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap the dough, then flatten into a disk. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 12-inch round. Ease into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim the excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold in the edges and crimp. Refrigerate the crust at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Line the pie crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the edges of the crust are just golden and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and bake until the crust is a deep golden brown all over, about 20 more minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• Make the filling: Mash 1 cup of the berries in a small bowl with a large fork. Place the remaining berries in a large bowl and set aside. Whisk together the granulated sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the water until smooth, then stir in the mashed berries. Place the pan over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture begins to bubble and thicken, the cornstarch becomes opaque and the sauce turns a deep berry color, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl of whole berries; fold the liquid and the berries together with a rubber spatula to evenly coat. Spoon the berry filling into the cooled pie crust in an even layer. Refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour.
• Make the topping: Beat the heavy cream and confectioners' sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Add the sour cream and beat until stiff again, about 2 more minutes. Mound the whipped cream on top of the pie; use the back of a spoon to make swoops and peaks. Slice and serve, or refrigerate for up to 1 day.

JUMBLEBERRY PIE (SUMMER BERRY PIE)

Steps:

• To make pâte brisée:
• In a large bowl blend the flour, the butter, the vegetable shortening, and the salt until the mixture resembles meal. Add 2 tablespoons ice water, toss the mixture until the water is incorporated, adding more ice water if necessary to form a dough, and form the dough into a ball. Dust the dough with flour and chill it, wrapped in wax paper, for 1 hour.
• Roll out half the dough 1/8-inch thick on a lightly floured surface, fit it into a 9-inch deep-dish (1 quart) pie plate, and trim the edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Chill the shell while making the filling. In a large bowl toss together the berries, the cornstarch, 1-1/2 cups of the sugar, the lemon juice, the nutmeg, and the cinnamon until the mixture is combined well, mound the filling in the shell, and dot it with the butter bits.
• Roll out the remaining dough into a 13- to 14-inch round on a lightly floured surface, drape it over the filling, and trim it, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under the bottom crust, pressing the edge to seal it, and crimp the edge decoratively. Brush the crust with the half-and-half, make slits in the top crust, forming steam vents, and sprinkle the pie lightly with the additional sugar. Bake the pie on a large baking sheet in the middle of a preheated 425°F. oven for 20 minutes, reduce the heat to 375°F., and bake the pie for 35 to 40 minutes more, or until the crust is golden and filling is bubbling. Serve the pie with the ice cream.

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.

SUMMER BERRY PIE

Steps:

• For the crust: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees.
• In a food processor, process the graham crackers until evenly fine, about 30 seconds (you should have 1 cup crumbs).
• Add the sugar and pulse to combine.
• Continue to pulse while adding the warm melted butter in a steady stream; pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand.
• Transfer the crumbs to a 9-inch glass pie plate.
• Using a ½-cup dry measuring cup, press the crumb mixture into the plate.
• Use your thumb to square off the top of the crust.
• Bake the crust until fragrant and beginning to brown, 15 to 18 minutes; transfer to a wire rack and cool completely while making the filling.
• For the filling: Combine the berries in a large colander and gently rinse (taking care not to bruise them); spread the berries on a rimmed baking sheet lined with paper towels and gently pat dry with additional paper towels.
• In a food processor, puree 2 ½ cups mixed berries until smooth and fully pureed, about 1 minute.
• Strain the puree through a mesh strainer into a small nonreactive saucepan, scraping and pressing on the seeds to extract as much puree as possible (you should have 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups).
• Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a small bowl to combine, then whisk the mixture into the puree.
• Bring the puree to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon; when the mixture reaches a boil and is thickened to the consistency of pudding, remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice, and set aside to cool slightly.
• While the puree is cooling, place the remaining berries in a medium bowl.
• Heat the jelly in a second small saucepan over low heat until fully melted.
• Drizzle the melted jelly over the berries and toss gently with a rubber spatula to coat.
• Pour the slightly cooled puree into the cooled pie shell and smooth the top with a spatula.
• Distribute the glazed berries evenly over the puree and gently press them into the puree.
• Loosely cover the pie with plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled and the puree has set, about 3 hours or up to 1 day.
• For the whipped cream: Just before serving, beat the cream, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer on low speed until small bubbles form, about 30 seconds.
• Increase the speed to medium; continue beating until the beaters leave a trail, about 30 seconds longer.
• Increase the speed to high; continue beating until the cream is smooth, thick, nearly doubled in volume, and forms soft peaks, about 30 to 60 seconds.
• Cut the pie into wedges and serve with whipped cream.

FOURTH OF JULY SUMMER BERRY PIES

Steps:

• Roll out 1 disk pate brisee to about 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out six 6-inch circles. Press dough into bottoms and up sides of six 5-inch (1 1/4 inches deep) pie plates. Trim excess dough flush with edges of pie plates using a knife, or crimp edges.
• Stir together berries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Fill pie shells with berry filling.
• Whisk together yolks and cream. Roll out remaining disk of dough to about 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut out stars and stripes using cookie cutters, a knife, or a pastry wheel. Decorate tops of pies with cutouts, brushing bottoms with egg wash to help them adhere. Freeze for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush tops of pies with egg wash, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.
• Bake until juices are bubbling and tops are golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. (Tent with foil if crusts are getting too dark.) Let cool.