Birthdays and Berry Pie

       Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays. They always leave you thinking about what you should do to celebrate this occasion, especially if it is for someone very important in your life. Recently was my fathers birthday. This year we decided to give him the gift of food. This consisted of 3 birthday dinners, 2 breakfasts, and 1 delicious berry pie. One of the breakfasts we made him was eggs benedict. You can find it here. The hollandaise sauce is easier to make than you think. The one thing that I changed was that I used a biscuit instead of an english muffin. It is overall a great filling breakfast. 

       My dad is more of an apple pie person, so I was somewhat surprised when he asked for a berry pie. I was most definitely up to the challenge, because this is the first pie I have ever made. It had a pecan and orange crust, and a berry filling. The recipe called for blueberries, raspberries, and cranberries, but I used blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. The recipe was intended to have a lattice crust, but I decided not to do that. It was a great first pie, and I was ecstatic with the results.

 

Mixed Berry Pie with Pecan-Orange Lattice Crust

Recipe from: Bon Appetit Desserts by: Barbara Fairchild   page 230

Crust

• 1/2 cup pecans, toasted
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons (or more) ice water 

Filling

• 1 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1 3/4 cups frozen raspberries, thawed, drained
• 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries, thawed, drained
• 1 1/4 cups fresh or thawed frozen cranberries
• 1 egg, beaten to blend

Crust: Finely grind pecans in a food processor. Add flour, sugar, orange peel, and salt and process until well blended. Add butter, using off/on turns, cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal. Using on/off turns, blend in 4 tablespoons ice water, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls, if needed, until moist clumps form. Gather dough together; divide into two pieces, 1 slightly larger than the other. Flatten each into a disk. Wrap separately in plastic and chill 1 hour.

Do Ahead: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out. 

Filling: Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375°F. Combine 1 1/3 cups sugar, orange marmalade, cornstarch, orange peel, and allspice in a large bowl. Add all berries and toss gently.

Roll out larger dough disk on a floured surface to a 13-inch round. Transfer round to 9-inch diameter glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1 1/2 inches.

Roll out smaller dough disk on a floured surface to a 12-inch round.; cut into fourteen 1/2 -inch-wide strips.

 Mound filling in crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Place remaining 7 dough strips at right angle atop first 7 strips, forming lattice. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal and forming a high-standing rim. Brush lattice (not crust edge) with egg and sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

Line baking sheet with foil; place in bottom of oven under rack to catch any drippings. Place pie on oven rack and bake until golden brown and filling bubbles thickly, covering crust edge with foil collar if browning too quickly, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool at least 1 hour. Serve sightly warm or at room temperature.