Monday, April 4, 2011

Spring Multi-Berry Pie



I have been wanting to make this multi-berry pie for a week, and I've finally got around to it.  I added blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries.  Some of the berries had been from my garden, some I purchased and froze, some I bought last summer (60 pounds of wild Maine blueberries) and froze and some I bought this weekend at the market.


For the filling I used 1 cup of raspberries, 2 cups of blueberries, 1 1/2 cups strawberries, 1 1/2 cups blackberries.  I topped it with 1/2 cup of sugar*, and then sprinkled 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of flour and 2 pats of butter cut up and placed around the top.
  
If you look close you can see the big bunny on the pie to celebrate Spring!  I love to decorate the tops of my pies to give them a little character.  Would you like a slice?


My husband loves his dessert and now I'm enjoying them as well - too much though!  LOL!  I didn't grow up having dessert each evening, but my husband did.  I think the difference was he was his mothers only child, and I am one of seven!  Therefore, my mom would have been baking a cake every day to feed nine people dessert after making dinner for us each evening! 

The pie came out of the oven at 10:20 last evening! I have to tell you, my home smelled fantastic!

I used Ina's perfect pie crust recipe (sorry nana) which was really easy to make in the food processor, and super easy to roll out.  The recipe is below.

Ingredients

12 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter*
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
6 -8 tablespoons ice water (about 1/2 cup)



Directions

1 Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture.
2 Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix.
3 Add the butter and shortening.
4 Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas.
5 With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball.
6 Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball.
7 Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
8 Cut the dough in half.
9 Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board.
10 Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan.
11 Repeat with the top crust.
12 **Ina Garten prefers to use Crisco shortening, that has been stored in the refrigerator.
13 ***Cook time does not include 30 minute refrigeration time.


Serve with ice cream or whipped cream!

My substitution notes


* I did not use sugar in an effort to reduce calories. It's really tart, but I enjoy a tart pie.
**I used Smart Balance butter sticks to reduce fat and calories.

38 comments:

  1. OOh this looks wonderful Mary - Love that bunny!My mum makes wonderful fruit pies...we put a spoonful of ground rice on the bottom crust to stop juice seepage instead of flour on top. May try your tip though! Berry anything is great. happy Monday! xoxo

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  2. Would I like a slice? I want the whole damn thing!

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  3. Berry pie is my absolute favorite, yum! Love the bunny that tops yours:)

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  4. Oh this looks so yummy! Just what I need, it's a little chilly and grey here, this would go down a treat. x

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  5. Oh that looks delicious! I had a wonderful home baked apple pie at my mum's house yesterday!
    xxx

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  6. Hi lovely lady. You know I love your Berry Pie. I will be right over for some OK.
    I miss your lovely comments on my Tablescape sweet lady. I hope you are having a nice Day and the Sun is out for you and your lovely family.
    XXOO
    Diane

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  7. Saw that little thumbnail pic and had to come see what was cooking! My boys all want a piece! The crust looks amazing.

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  8. I make a similar pie, but you add more kinds of berries and I like that!!... one of my favorites :-)

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  9. Pie of any kind has been my favorite. I am going to try the crust I have such a hard time with crust. Now it is interesting that you are one of 7 and hubby is an only. my daughter is an only and her husband is 1 of 2 so not such a big diffrence.
    cathy

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  10. Yum! We're out of our frozen strawberries... only have blueberries left from last summer.Can't wait for spring and summer berry season! This pie is just beautiful, Mary! I'm bookmarking this recipe!

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  11. Oh man, your pie looked scrum, scrum, scrumtious! Loved the "dough" bunny, too. Cure. Susan

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  12. Would I like a slice? - What kind of question is that :-D Of course I would like a slice... or maybe two or three, he he
    It looks so nice with the bunny decorating on top!

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  13. I would love to have a slice of this lovely-yummy-bunny pie or...maybe more :D

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  14. That looks very yummy!
    I bet it did smell delicious with all that lovely fruit.
    Love the little bunny on top!
    Makes me want to go and bake one right now!
    Gill x

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  15. Looks yummy. I'm jealous that you have berries from your garden. Wow.
    Sam

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  16. So exciting to have some wild blueberries! And this pie is a dream...bunny and all!

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  17. Looks yummy - I'd have to add sugar though ;-))

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  18. Wonder what someone had for breakfast this morning?
    lucky you
    j

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  19. I really love this recipe; but I will wait till I can make it with fresh berries. It will be a while; we came home to Snow.
    Rita

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  20. you know I love a mixed berry pie... what else is a more glorious way to eat all those lovely berries bursting with flavour!... divine stuff... and I love your pastry bunny too!

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  21. I think you should have the title of Pie Queen. This mixed berry pie looks delicious. The pastry bunny on top is over the top adorable. I can smell it's goodness from here. Did you serve it with ice cream or whipped cream?

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  22. Mary! That pie looks scrumptious! You need to
    enter my giveaway! I think
    you would love to play around
    with that mini lattice pie mold.
    Hope you are having a great week!
    Mika

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  23. That looks so YUMMY! I want to take a bite of it right now! I'm going to try this recipe out, thanks!

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  24. I love berries. This pie looks fantastic. It seems so wholesome.

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  25. I love berries of all kinds and would love a piece of your pie, Mary! The bunny design on the crust is so cute.

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  26. Your pie looks scrumptious! I always envy my brother (who lives in Maine) when it comes to blueberry season! There is nothing like wild Maine blueberries!!! I would not be able to stop at just one piece of your delicious berry pie.

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  27. I love mixed berry pie. Your bunny on top is so cool.

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  28. Thanks! And..., here I am stopping by for a piece of pie. Love how that rhymes!! Oh, so delicious!!!

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  29. Your multi-berry pie sounds amazing. What a wonderful way to use a variety of berries. The pie looks stunning too.

    Velva

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  30. How creative you are! The pie looks delicious and I'm trying to figure out how you got that bunny design on the top.

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  31. I have just seen your new kitchen and I love it !!!
    Good choice! !!!!!:))))
    I am pretty sure it helps to prepare new recipes:)
    have a nice day, barbara

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  32. Came over to thank you for stopping by! We love berry pies here. We grow all the berries that you used but our blackberrys have not started producing yet and we do not get a ton of blueberries. Thanks for the new pie dough recipe to try!

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  33. OH! What a delicious pie. No doubt we would love this more than we should. Happy to have the pie crust recipe.
    I really appreciate your nice comment on my blog. Yes, you and your sister should have a show. I've been at it for 22 years and people still flock here early to get first choice. :)

    Donna

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  34. I have not had success in pie crust making but feel compelled to try, try again. And, I'm going to try Ina's as I trust her and you. Your pie looks delicious!!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  35. It looks like you make a mean crust and that's 90 percent of a good pie in my eyes.

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  36. Berries are great! This pie looks delicious. I have to stop reading these posts when I'm hungry!

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  37. I'd love a slice! Your pie looks delicious and I love the bunny you put on top of the crust - adorable.

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  38. Thanks for stopping by my blog, love your bowl in the pic with the eggs in it! It was a great way for me to use up a fat quarter and make it into an apron don't you think? All off the top of my head as I don't follow patterns - hope you make one and post the pic so I can have a look, your town where you live looks beautiful cheers Judy

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I'm thrilled you've stopped by and I always enjoy your comments! Thank you!