Buttery Berry Pie Food

TRIPLE BERRY PIE

Steps:

• Cook berries: Add berries, sugar and lemon juice to a large saucepan over medium heat.
• Simmer, until warm and juicy, about 5-10 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. (You can taste it at this point and see if it's sweet enough for your liking. I don't like to make mine too sweet, but if you want it sweeter you can add 1/4 cup more sugar.)
• Thicken filling: Spoon out about 1/2 cup of the juice from the pan into a bowl. Stir cornstarch into the juice until smooth.
• Bring pot of berries back to a simmer and slowly pour in the cornstarch. Gently stir mixture (being careful not to mash the berries), until thickened, about 2-5 minutes.
• Cool and add to pie shell. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell (in a 9 in deep dish pan).
• Add lattice top or a whole top with holes pricked on top for steam to escape. (See directions for lattice crust below).
• Pinch the edges of the top and bottom pie crusts together and crimp the edge, if you like. Brush a thin layer of beaten egg white over the top of the pie and sprinkle lightly with sugar.
• Bake at 400 degrees F for 40-45 minutes. Check it after about 25 minutes and place a piece of tinfoil over it if the top crust is getting too brown.
• Remove to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool for several hours. Once cooled completely, you can cut into it or cover it and refrigerate it overnight to serve the next day.

BUTTERY BERRY PIE

Steps:

• To make the pie dough, put 2 cups of the flour in the freezer for 15 minutes. Add the butter, toss well and put back in the freezer for another 15 minutes.
• Dump the flour and butter mixture onto a work surface and, using a rolling pin, mush them together quickly. Sweep in the stray piles of flour and bits of butter and continue rolling. This is a messy procedure as the mixture sticks to everything. Use your hands to remove pieces stuck to the work surface and gently roll them back into the flour and butter.
• Combine the sour cream and the salt in a large bowl. Add the dough and, using a rubber spatula, mix to combine as well as possible. Use your hands to bring it together to form 2 rounds.
• Sprinkle the work surface with the remaining flour and roll out 1 piece of dough. Fold it onto itself and roll again. Do this 3 times to each piece of dough, then pat each into a flat round and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• To make the filling, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine the sugar and tapioca and toss them with the berries, lemon juice and salt.
• Dust the work surface with the graham-cracker crumbs and roll out 1 round of dough on top of the crumbs, turning once to dust each side. Line a 9-inch pan with the dough. Pour in the berries. Roll out the other round on the remaining crumbs, cut decorative steam vents near the center and lay it loosely over the mounded fruit. Crimp the edges together firmly and flute.
• Combine the egg and cream. Brush the crust with the mixture, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 to 40 more minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling.

BLUEBERRY-LEMON PIE WITH A BUTTER CRUST

Steps:

• For the flaky butter pie crust: Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and cut it in with a pastry blender until the largest pieces are the size of small peas and the mixture begins to clump on the pastry blender. Shuffle through the mixture with your hands, pinching chunks of fat to flatten them.
• Stir the vinegar and 5 tablespoons ice water together in a bowl. Add the liquid to the flour mixture and stir with a fork. Pinch a clump of dough in your hands: If it feels moist and clumps together easily, it's probably hydrated enough. If it feels really crumbly, add another tablespoon or two of ice water until you can form a baseball-size clump of dough, packing it on as if you were making a snowball.
• Divide the dough in half and form each half into a flat disk. Wrap both disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
• Thirty minutes before you're ready to roll out the dough, remove it from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature to soften. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• For the blueberry filling: In a bowl, toss the blueberries with the sugar, cornstarch and lemon zest and juice and mix until combined.
• Dust a worktop and rolling pin with flour. Roll out one dough disk a little less than 1¿4 inch thick, about 14 inches in diameter. Fold the dough in half and transfer it to a 9- or 10-inch pie plate. Unfold. Press the dough into the corners, leaving the overhang for now. Refrigerate the first crust while you roll out the second disk of dough.
• Remove the bottom crust from the refrigerator and fill it with the berry mixture. Tuck the pats of cold butter beneath the top layer of berries. Top with the second piece of dough, and trim both to a 1/2-inch overhang around the pie. Tuck the overhang into a roll and crimp the edge, pressing down to hook some of the dough over the edge of the dish, holding the pie. Cut a hole in the center of the pie, as well as some decorative vents.
• Brush the top of the pie with cream and dust it with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes. Cover the edges of the pie with foil and continue to bake until the center juices bubble and thicken, 25 to 35 minutes more.
• Let the pie cool until it is just warm to the touch before slicing and serving. Top with ice cream.

BUTTER PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a bowl, mix the flour, salt and sugar. Add butter and gently toss with the dry ingredients until evenly coated. Using fingertips and thumbs, press each cube of butter into a thin leaf, and continue tossing in flour. When all butter is coated, add ice water one tablespoon at a time. Continue tossing gently until mixture starts to look ragged and just holds together when squeezed. Wrap loosely in plastic, waxed paper or parchment. Press dough down firmly into a disk. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or up to one day, before rolling. (Dough will keep frozen for up to a month).
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll chilled dough into a circle 12 inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick. Transfer to a deep-dish 9-inch pie pan, lifting dough to let it settle into corners of pan; do not stretch it. Turn edges under to make a thick rim; flute the rim, pinching it into a zigzag pattern.
• Line crust with parchment or foil and cover bottom with pie weights, dried beans or raw rice. Bake in lower half of oven for 15 to 20 minutes, then remove weights and bake in upper half of oven 5 to 10 minutes, until just golden on edges.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar together at medium speed until sugar looks like wet sand. Add salt and vanilla extract. With mixer running, add eggs one at a time and beat until creamy and light, about a minute. Mix in cranberries, if using.
• Scrape filling into parbaked crust. Place pie on a sheet pan and bake in center of oven for 25 to 35 minutes, until top looks dry and browned. The filling will form a skin and puff slightly, then deflate as it cools and sets. Let cool at least one hour, then wrap and refrigerate until serving, at least one hour or overnight. Serve cold with very lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

SUMMER BERRY PIE

Steps:

• Put the flour, butter, icing sugar, ground almonds and zest in a food processor and whizz to crumbs. Mix the yolk with 1 tbsp cold water, then add to the processor and pulse until the dough comes together.
• Split the pastry in half, wrap in cling film, then chill for 30 mins.
• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Line a 20cm pie dish with half the pastry, add a sheet of greaseproof paper and baking beans and bake blind for 30 mins. Remove the paper and beans. Mix the berries and cornflour with the extra 2 tbsp icing sugar and a squeeze of orange juice, then pile into the pie base.
• Roll out the remaining pastry until big enough to cover the pie with a slight overlap. Whisk the egg white with a fork, then brush a little around the pastry rim. Carefully lift on the pastry lid, trim the edges and press with fork prongs to seal. Use a 2cm cutter, the large end of a piping nozzle or a bottletop to stamp out a few pastry polka dots - discarding the pastry circles you stamp out. Brush all over with more egg white, then sprinkle generously with granulated sugar and bake for 30 mins until golden and the syrupy fruit has started to bubble out of the polka dots.
• Allow the pie to cool for a few mins before serving hot, or warm or at room temperature, with a dollop of clotted cream, ice cream or drizzle of single cream, if you like.

TRIPLE BERRY PIE

Steps:

• Ease one disc of pie dough into an ungreased 9-inch pie pan. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
• Combine the brown sugar and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Rub together until fully incorporated. Add the cornstarch, nutmeg and salt and mix well. Add the raspberries, blackberries and blueberries and gently toss to coat with the sugar mixture. Set aside.
• To make a stencil, print out a Pi symbol that is about 4 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches. Trace the symbol onto the back of a paper plate. Cut out the symbol. You now have your template.
• Place a disc of dough on a lightly floured surface. Lightly flour the pie crust and place the template in the center. Cut out the Pi symbol and remove it carefully from the disc. Leave the remaining dough on the work surface.
• Add the lemon juice to the bowl of berries and gently toss until incorporated.
• Remove the pie pan from the refrigerator and spoon the berry mixture into it. Top the pie with the disc of dough you cut the Pi symbol from. Seal the edges and use a paring knife trim away any excess dough. Place the pie in the freezer.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly dust your work surface again with flour if needed. Place the third disc of dough on the surface. Punch out six each of the following, making the digits about 2 inches high: 3 •̣ 1 4.
• Make an egg wash by beating the egg and 1 tablespoon water until smooth in a small bowl. Remove the pie from the freezer and brush the top with the egg wash. Place the numbers and dots around the edges of the pie in this order 3 • 14, repeating until you have used them all. Brush the top with egg wash again.
• Place the pie pan on a baking sheet. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, about 50 minutes. Allow the pie to cool completely on the sheet pan before slicing.

BERRY PIE

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in water and lemon juice until smooth. Add berries; stir gently. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from the heat; cool. , Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom crust. Add filling. Roll out remaining pastry; make a lattice crust. Seal and flute edges. Cover edges loosely with foil. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes Reduce heat to 350°. Remove foil; bake 40-50 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool completely.