Happy Pi(e) Day!
I’ll be honest, I don’t make a lot of pie. My sister is the pie maker of the family and I’m fine to leave her with that title. I even worked baking pies at a pie shop for 9 months and I still don’t consider myself much of a pie maker. I’m more into macarons and cookies (which probably explains why recipes for those make up most of this blog). I know what I’m good at and what I like so I stick to it.
But given that it’s pi day I thought it was time for a pie recipe to make its way to the blog; it’s been a while.
Keeping with the honesty in this post, I’ll be the first to tell you the first attempt at making this pie was not super successful. It wasn’t bad, it actually tasted pretty good, but the filling was just sloppy and wouldn’t set and the pastry just wasn’t baking evenly, resulting in some fully baked and some underbaked dough. Not ideal.
It was so messy I couldn’t take pictures. And I didn’t want to post a recipe for a sub par pie for you all so the next day I remade it with a different crust recipe (always, always trust that Joy the Baker knows best) and more cornstarch mixed into the filling to thicken it up.
The first go around had four different kinds of berries – strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. The second, much more successful, attempt was strawberries and blueberries with like 8 leftover raspberries. I really didn’t feel like making a trip to the grocery store so I just used what I had leftover. The four berries were great, but just two worked just as well. Totally your choice how many types of berries you use.
Joy the Baker’s crust alone makes this pie worth it. We incorporate the very cold butter into the flour using a rolling pin and we add buttermilk for an incredibly flaky dough. I braided my lattice because I was feeling extra fancy and I like the way it looks, but you can feel free to cut regular lattice strips and do nothing or something completely different with them if that’s your thing.
This pie is good eaten solo, topped with heavy cream or warm custard, or probably with a big scoop of ice cream. I’m partial to custard, preferably the canned stuff from Ambrosia. I’d eat the stuff with a spoon if I could. Don’t judge, it’s the British girl in me.
Mixed Berry Pie
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 2 sticks (8 oz) cold unsalted butter
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup (5 to 6 oz.) buttermilk
- Egg, beaten, for brushing
- Raw sugar, for sprinkling
- Filling:
- 6 cups berries
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup + 3 tbsp. cornstarch
- Pinch salt
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
Directions
- Step 1 Crust:
- Step 2 Cut the butter into 1-inch pieces and place in the freezer to chill for 15 minutes. Measure out the buttermilk and store in the refrigerator to keep it cold (you could even put it in the freezer for a few minutes too).
- Step 3 Sift together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Take the cold butter from the freezer and toss it with the flour mixture.
- Step 4 Dump the cold butter cubes and flour mixture onto a large work area for rolling. With a rolling pin, roll the mixture, flattening the butter cubes with the flour into long, thin, floured butter sheets. Work quickly to ensure that the butter stays cold.
- Step 5 Place the flour and flattened butter back in the large bowl and chill for 10 minutes. When the butter is cold, remove the bowl from the refrigerator, make a small well in the center of the flour and butter mixture. Add the cold buttermilk to the bowl all at once. Begin to bring the dough together with one hand ( keep the other hand free to answer the phone). Moisten all of the flour with the milk, using your hand to break up large clumps of milk and flour. The dough will be rather shaggy, but you can add another tablespoon of buttermilk, if you see that all your flour isn’t moistened. Form the dough into two disks. The disks will be rough, and hard to shape together, but once they rest in the fridge for an hour, they’ll be easier to roll out.
- Step 6 Chill the dough for at least an hour in the refrigerator. At this point, the dough will keep in the fridge for up to three days, or in the freezer for up to three weeks. For freezing, roll the dough out into sheets and wrap them in plastic film.
- Step 7 Remove one disc and roll out to 12″ circle. Transfer to a pie plate and press into bottom and sides of pan. Leave overhanging dough in place and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Step 8 Remove second disc and cut lattice strips, braiding optional. Place in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
- Step 9 Filling/Assembly:
- Step 10 Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Step 11 Whisk together sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add lemon zest, juice and berries, tossing to combine.
- Step 12 Remove pie crust from fridge and spoon the filling in, top with the lattice. Roll the overhanging ends into the pie pan and crimp decoratively.
- Step 13 Brush the beaten egg over the crust and sprinkle with raw sugar.
- Step 14 Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the dough is fully cooked and golden brown. If the top is browning too quickly, cover with foil.
- Step 15 Serve alone or with cream, custard or ice cream.
