Summer’s here. Make pie.
Berry Pie
makes 1 9–10 inch pie
6 half-pint containers of fresh, organic berries (blackberries, olallieberries, raspberries)
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons black raspberry liqueur (Chambord is a good one), optional
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of sea salt
pastry for a two crust pie
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 paper thin slices of lemon
1. Prepare Perfect Pie Crust, wrap in two discs and set in refrigerator for at least one hour.
2. Preheat oven to 425° F.
3. Combine sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, nutmeg and sea salt. Put berries in a large bowl and sprinkle over the sugar mixture, liqueur, and lemon juice. then gently stir to combine.
4. Roll out bottom crust and transfer to a glass pie plate. Fill with berry mixture, dot top with pieces of butter and paper thin lemon slices. Cover with top crust, whole or lattice style. Brush top crust with cream (this makes the crust brown nicely).
5. Bake at 425° F for 15 minutes, lower heat to 350° and continue baking for 30–40 minutes, until crust is golden brown on top. Let cool on rack and enjoy with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Amy’s Kitchen Coach Tips
- Buy organic berries and don’t wash them, as it gets them waterlogged. Pick through the berries with an eye out for any moldy or dirty ones, discard those. (Don’t worry, you’ll be fine, it bakes at 400+ degrees for awhile, killing any cooties.)
- To get a lattice top, roll out dough into a circle and slice in 1 inch strips. Starting with the longest middle piece, lay it down vertically at the noon position and place other strips alongside, spacing by about 1 inch. Fold back every other strip starting with the top half. Place the next longest piece, horizontally at the middle position and unfold the pieces back to flat position, then fold the alternating pieces, … oh forget it. See the Joy of Cooking, “To Form a Lattice Top”.
- This pie contains mostly berries, not a lot of filler. Do not expect nice, neat slices of pie. But do expect delicious berry flavor and tender, crispy crust. Especially nice with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
