Summer Berry Pie

Yum. This is the simplest of recipes, a delicious way to showcase the fruit you choose.

With boysenberries picked from my neighbors patch, it’s summer in a dish.

Start with a double pie crust. If you’re going to make one, may as well make two, right?
I use my classic Fannie Farmer recipe, but truth be told I’m not choosy when it comes to pie crusts. I’ve never made one I didn’t like. And I’ve tried lots of different recipes…some with red wine vinegar, some with butter…they all taste delicious to me, so why make things more difficult?

Mix your fruit with some sugar to sweeten and flour to thicken. Add to the pie dish. You can even use frozen berries here. I’ve included bake times for both.

Look at all that juice! My berries sat in the sugar for a while and got nice and syrupy. I ended up spooning some out from around the edges, and I’m glad I did. It still overflowed while it was baking but only a tiny bit. I had it on a pan that caught the spill, thankfully.

Top with the second crust and crimp your edges. I do it with my fingers and call it beautiful.

Poke some holes in the top. Then I like to brush with milk and sprinkle granulated sugar on top. Trust me. It raises the awesome factor by a million.

Cover the top with foil, and remove it half way through the bake time.

Ps, berry pies aren’t very photogenic. They look like they’ve been in a knife fight. A tasty one.

Here’s the recipe:

Two 9in Crusts (Fannie Farmer Cookbook):

2 1/2 c flour
1/2 tp salt
3/4 c shortening
6-7 Tb cold water

Pie Filling:

5 c tart berries
1c sugar
(if using a sweeter berry like strawberry or blueberry, decrease sugar to 2/3c)
1/4 c flour
Squeeze of lemon juice (opt)

Topping:

Milk
Granulated sugar

Instructions:

First, preheat oven to 375°, and make your crusts:
Mix the flour and salt together.
Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture had crumbs the style of small peas. This will not be perfect looking. Embrace it.
Sprinkle water over mixture and stir until it starts to come together in a ball.
Divide into two balls. Roll bottom crust two inches bigger than pie plate. Fit into pie plate, and keep in fridge while you make the top.
After rolling out the top crust, roll it up or gently fold into fourths and lay on top of your bottom crust that is in the fridge.

Now for the filling:

Mix together the flour and sugar and combine with berries and lemon juice, if using.
If using frozen berries, let them thaw a little, but not completely.
Pour into pan and top with crust.
Crimp the edges with your fingers and make little slits in top.
With a pastry brush, brush a little milk on top of pie and sprinkle sugar on top. This little step will make your pie gorgeous, trust me.
Cover with foil and pop in the oven. After 25 min (or 50 if frozen) take foil off and continue baking for 25min or until golden brown.
Let it cool a little so the filling can set up, then dig in! Vanilla ice cream would be the perfect accompaniment.