Recipe Fridays: Mixed Berry Pie

Magnificent Mixed Berry Pie

If you're anything like us, you're trying to squeeze every last bit of wonderfulness out of the summer season of local fruits and vegetables. We're savoring being able to have fresh salad greens every night covered in local cucumbers and tomatoes; the beautiful eggplants, peppers, and zucchini; the tasty buttery potatoes; and lots and lots of blueberries, red raspberries and blackberries. 

Here's the recipe for the pie we had the night of Jeannine's celebratory dinner over Labor Day weekend. Having me feeling a little bit better gives Mom a little more space to breathe sometimes, and we've been doing a bit more baking, which I love. I only helped to transfer the crust from the pie sheet to the pie dish, though, so Mom is responsible for what turned out to be a magnificent pie.

For the first time, she tried Bob's Red Mill Pie Crust Mix which, even to Mom, did not taste gluten-free. It was light and flakey. 

As for the recipe book that we used--Carol Fenster's 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes--we highly recommend this as a go to book for recipes that turn out well consistently. We're no longer buying any store bought baked goods, because I can't find a gluten-free cookie, bar, muffin, cupcake, pie, etc. that is worth the calorie splurge. Yes, the internet is full of great recipes, and we use those as well, but we do find this book to be an important and trustworthy staple in our cookbook library.

My Sunday Lunch

Mixed Berry Pie

From:
1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes by Carol Fenster, Ph.D.

Makes 6 Servings

Berry pies say "summer" in the most delicious way. I use two kinds of thickeners to make sure the filling firms up nicely, since berries have lots of juice.

Ready for Jeannine's Celebration Dinner

CRUST:

Substitute Bob's Red Mill Pie Crust Mix for her mix to avoid having to make your own flour blend.

FILLING:

2/3 cup sugar, or to taste + 1 tablespoons for sprinkling on crust
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
8 cups (2 pounds) fresh raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon orange liqueur, such as Triple Sec or Cointreau (optional) -- we substituted Chambord since that is what we had on hand
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or buttery spread, such as Earth Balance, cut in 3 pieces (we used butter)


1. Make the crust:  Prepare the double-crust pastry dough as directed on package for Bob's Red Mill Pie Crust mix.

2. While the dough chills, make the filling:  In a large bowl, mix together 2/3 cup of sugar, cornstarch, and tapioca. Add the berries and toss well. Once you have the berries mixed with the sugar, taste to see if more sugar is needed. Add the lemon juice and liqueur, if using, and toss well; set aside.

3. Place a rack in the bottom position and another in the middle position of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Roll the bottom pie crust and fit it into the pie pan. Fill with fruit fruit mixture, but limit the extra juice to 2 tablespoons. Dot the filling with the butter pieces. Continue with the top crust as directed. Freeze the pie 10 minutes. Brush the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Place it on a nonstick (gray, not black) baking sheet.

4. Bake 15 minutes on the bottom oven rack. Move the pie to the middle rack and bake 25 to 35 minutes more, or until the top crust browns too much. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack before cutting. Serve at room temperature.

You'll Never Know This Pie Is Gluten-Free!

Enjoy the last bit of summer!

Serve for dessert. Or for breakfast. Or for lunch. Or with ice cream. Or without.

We served it with local frozen yogurt one day and with local goat's milk ice cream the next. I also ate pie for lunch one day! Why have I never done that before? It was so good! :)

Blessings,

Emily