Pie #10- Triple Berry Pie

Pie baking in the summer is not easy! Even if I can find time to make a pie, I have to calculate and make sure I have time to EAT that pie before I head out of time.  So with a little break in between camp and my next mission trip, it was time to make a pie.  One of my summer interns, Chris, was getting to visit with his daddy-o (because his dad is Mike Cope and was preaching at our church that weekend!) so I figured I’d make the men some pie to enjoy while they hung out.  Chris assured me that Mike liked fruit pies best (man after my own heart) and when I saw this recipe on Pinterest I knew I had a winner!  Since I was having a sleepover with two of my high school girls I went ahead and made two… plus that way I got to eat some of it.

 

This pie was SUPER messy and somewhat time consuming but it was really easy to double the recipe (I could have tripled or quadrupled it just as easily) so it was well worth it.  Berries aren’t cheap either so this would be a great “Kroger’s Having a Giant Sale on Fruit” treat.   Frozen fruit would not substitute well for this recipe.  But aren’t they beautiful and worth it?

But besides all of that, this pie was so so SO delicious.  The mix of fruit in the puree and the fresh berries used for the topping were ridiculously yummy.  And with the number of antioxidants in this pie, it HAS to be somewhat good for you, right?  As a lover of fruit pies, this is my favorite pie that I’ve made… seriously.  Go make one right now.

I started off with my homemade graham cracker crust.  You could buy one if you’re in  a bind!

Triple Berry Pie from Crumbly Cookie

(Yields 1 9-inch pie)

2 c (~9 oz) raspberries
2 c (~11 oz) blackberries
2 c (~10 oz) blueberries
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons red currant jelly

Combine the berries in a large colander and gently rinse; spread the berries on towel-lined rimmed baking sheet and gently pat dry with additional towels.

In a food processor, puree 2½ cups of the mixed berries until smooth and fully pureed, about 1 minute. Strain the puree through a mesh strainer into small nonreactive saucepan, scraping and pressing on seeds to extract as much puree as possible (you should have 1¼ to 1½ cups). This is an arm workout but luckily the puree smells like heaven which makes it easier to push through!

Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a small bowl to combine, then whisk the mixture into the puree. Bring the puree to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon; when the mixture reaches a boil and is thickened to consistency of pudding,
remove from heat, stir in the lemon juice, and set aside to cool slightly.

While the puree is cooling, place the remaining berries in a medium bowl. Heat the jelly in a second small saucepan over low heat until fully melted; drizzle the melted jelly over the berries and gently toss them together until the berries are glazed. Pour the slightly cooled puree into the cooled pie shell and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Distribute the glazed berries evenly over the puree and gently press into the surface. Loosely cover pie with plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled and the puree has set, about 3 hours (or up to 1 day).

 

Pie #6- Gram’s Sweet Strawberry Pie

Ok, here we go.  I’ve got to get caught up on pies before summer hits and my free time disappears (yay for youth ministry!).  This past Sunday was our annual Fifth Grade Blessing where we welcome in our new babies to the youth ministry.  It’s neat experiencing my third FGB and knowing all of the families already… Sycamore View is family and we have the privilege of watching these pre-teens jump into the big world of the youth group. As a part of our magical evening of blessing, I had to line up enough desserts for 40 people.  I made two pies and then roped in two of my favorite bakers to make a few desserts… the final line-up was beautiful to say the least.  We ended up with banana pudding, chocolate chip pound cake, strawberry pie, oreo cake, Peanut Butter Thank You Pie, and apple pie. Not too shabby.

However, since you aren’t here to see pictures of dessert parades, I’ll cut to the chase…  That beautiful dish of ruby-red goodness third from the top is so worth your time.

A few months ago when I began this journey, my mom and aunts scavenged through kitchens and boxes to find some good old family classics.  At that point, my dad’s mom had passed away and my mom’s mom was deep into her battle with dementia and Alzheimer’s.  For that reason, I am thankful for their daughters who have taken it upon themselves to make sure the Parker/Henderson/Durrington legacy lives on.  I now have emails stashed away that contain some pretty serious baking traditions.  One such tradition is my sweet Gram’s Strawberry Pie.  Gram passed away in March and I haven’t been able to bring myself to her recipes until now.

I don’t have memories of Gram making pie, but I remember plenty of cakes, these incredible oatmeal bars, and lots and lots of cookies.  Actually, a vast majority of my Gram memories take place in her kitchen so it seems a fitting way to remember her now.  Her strawberry pie recipe was easy and SO SO good.  The filling sort of turned to soup (incredibly sweet and beyond delicious soup) but one of our youth group dads kindly took my pie plate and scraped out any juicy remnants- you could say it was a hit.  Next time, I may cook the filling a little longer and use a quart and a half of strawberries instead of just a quart- my pie pan was deep enough that it could have held even MORE awesome strawberry-ness.  And before we start with the recipe, let the record show that THIS girl blind-baked a successful pie crust.  WINNING.  I’m planning a mini-post on the horrifically dangerous world of blind-baking next week.

So here it is, Gram’s Sweet Strawberry Pie:

Ingredients:

-1 baked pie shell
-1 quart (4 cups) strawberries- if your pie dish is deep- go for 6 cups.
-3 tbsp cornstarch
-1 cup sugar
-3 tbsp lemon juice

-Whipping cream for garnish

Wash and trim strawberries, cut in half.  Reserve 6-8 halves for garnish.

Take half remaining and place in saucepan with 1 cup sugar, 3 tbsp cornstarch and 3 tbsp lemon juice.

Mash berries well and cook, stirring, until thickened and clear.  Resist the urge to just eat it out of the pan… although if you do, it’s good.  Chill filling.

Add remaining berry halves gently (cut larger ones so they are uniform in size) and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Just before serving, spoon berry mixture into cooled pie shell, top with sweetened whipped cream and garnish with remaining berry halves.

Do the best you can cutting and serving… it may not be pretty but oh my goodness is it good!