Must Be Time For Berry Pie

We are enjoying the time with Raine and he seems to be enjoying the conversations, being on our 'farm' and the cooking and baking I'm doing with him, plus the woodworking that Sweetie is doing with him.

Yesterday he picked some more blackberries so that we could make a pie for dinner using the Food Processor Pie Crust dough we made the day before. To those blackberries we added some frozen raspberries and a few blueberries for a three berry delight.

Raine and I have baked freeform pies like galettes before, but this was our first pie in a pie pan together. He easily rolled out the dough for the pie bottom, seeming to know instinctively to keep the thickness even across the circle. He used a small knife to even out the overhang after I showed him how to fold the circle into quarters and then unfold that in the pie pan. Then, forgetting that we were planning to do a two crust pie, I showed him how to form the edge by folding the excess under, sort of rolling it, then fixing it to the edge and making it decorative with his fingers. By that time I remembered the two crust notion, so we changed course and decided to top it with streusel instead. Fortunately the book we're using for the pie recipe also has one for streusel.

The pie turned out pretty well. Because the frozen raspberries had a lot of juice, the filling was a bit loose, even with both flour and cornstarch added before baking, but it was still delicious and the pastry was excellent. I liked the streusel crunch as an contrast to the soft filling. We all agreed that the filling was nicely tart, even with the sweet streusel.

Triple Berry Pie with Streusel Top Crust

based on recipe from Art of the Pie by Kate McDermott

1 recipe Food Processor Pie Dough (see below), using half the recipe - reserve the other half for another use

6 cups (680-900 grams), about one and a half pounds, equal parts blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, fresh picked or unthawed-frozen (We used about 3 3/4 cups frozen raspberries,1/4 cup fresh blueberries and 2 cups fresh blackberries)

3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar

Small grating fresh nutmeg (OK to use a pinch of ground nutmeg instead)

1 teaspoon (5 grams) fresh lemon juice and a few gratings of lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (73 grams) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch 

1 recipe Streusel topping for pie (see below)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Roll out the half recipe of pie dough, fit it in the pie pan (9-inch, deep dish), fold under excess dough to create a raised edge, then flute. Place pie pan in the freezer while you make the filling.

Put the berries, sugar, nutmeg, lemon juice, zest, salt, flour and cornstarch into a bowl and mix just to combine. If there are few juices, mash slightly with a wooden spoon to create a small amount of juices.

If not already done, make the Streusel to top the pie with.

Pour the filling into the chilled pie dough lined pan. Gently smooth with the back of the wooden spoon to make level. Filling should come up to about 1/2 inch BELOW the edge of the pie.

Top the filling evenly with the Streusel (Crumble Topping).

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for another 25-35 minutes. Check after 15 minutes and cover streusel with aluminum foil, loosely, if topping is looking too brown. Pie is done when the filling at the edges of the streusel is bubbling and the pie crust is golden brown.

Set the pie on a cooling rack and cool to room temperature before serving so that the fruit filling can set up.

Food Processor Pie Crust from Martha Stewart Test Kitchen

makes 2 disks

2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces, divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup ice water

Freeze 3/4 of the butter pieces in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet until hard, at least 30 minutes. Refrigerate the other 1/4 of the pieces. The frozen pieces stay chunky after being pulsed, creating steam pockets when baked (the key to flakiness) and the refrigerated bits get worked into the pastry, giving it a tender texture.

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor work bowl. Add refrigerated butter (the smaller amount of the butter bits). Pulse to combine, about 10 times. Add frozen butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some blueberry-sized clumps.

With the processor off, add the ice water. Immediately pulse until water is just incorporated, about 10 times. Squeeze a small amount of dough to make sure it holds together. Pulse a few times more if needed. When you squeeze the dough it should remain crumbly, but come together. Don't pulse it so long that it forms a ball. Adding water while the processor is running  and over-pulsing are bad ideas... could lead to tough dough.

Lay out 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Empty half the dough onto each piece. Bring edges of wrap together to gather dough and form a round mass. Press the dough this way to form a rough round mass, and press on top of the wrap to form a disk. The processed dough should resemble uneven crumbs. When you empty the mixture from the processor bowl out onto the plastic wrap, some pieces will be tiny, others will be in clumps. That is perfect! The gathered plastic wrap method of forming the disk simultaneously has you gathering the crumbs into a cohesive dough and shaping it.

Roll out disks, still wrapped in plastic, to 1/2 inch thick rounds, about 8 inches in diameter. Rounds this size will chill more quickly that hockey-puck sized ones and will soften more uniformly when removed from the refrigerator.

Refrigerate at least 45 minutes and up to 2 days. Dough can be frozen up to 1 month. 

Streusel (Crumble Topping)

1/2 cup (110 grams) brown sugar, packed

1/4 teaspoon salt (a pinch)

1/2 cup (73 grams) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups (144 grams) whole oats, rolled

8 tablespoons (112 grams) unsalted butter

1/2 cup (60 grams) chopped nuts, optional - We used walnuts, but pecans are great, too

Put the brown sugar, salt, flour, and oats in a bowl and stir to mix.

Dice the chilled butter into small dice and scatter in the bowl. Cut the butter in with a pastry tool or two crossed knives, or use you fingers to smear the butter into the dry ingredients.  When you are done, the mixture should look crumbly. Take about a 1/4 cup in a clean hand and squeeze - it should stick together. If that works, add the nuts and mix in. If it doesn't stick together when squeezed, add another tablespoon or so of butter and work that in, then add the nuts.

Pour the mixture into a bowl or plastic bag and chill in the freezer while you make the filling.