A Berry Apple Pie

To celebrate my beautiful sister's 22nd birthday I decided to try a new type of pie: Berry Apple.  However, it was Saturday and I had plans in two hours and needed to go to the store, so needless to say, I didn't have the time to make my signature homemade crust. So Pillsbury's pre-made refrigerated pie crust to the rescue! I just want to say, always make your own -- it totally makes it more special and have that extra great taste, but if your short on time, Pillsbury is the way to go. Anyway, to the store I went! Thank goodness the berries looked wonderful for the end of October.  It made my day.

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

• 3 lbs of apples, preferably a mix of Empire, Gala, and McIntosh. 
• 1 cup of mixed berries, preferably strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries
• 2/3 cup of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt
• 1 large egg
• Coarse sugar

      First things first, get peeling and coring those apples! Then slice them down.  Mix them with the sugar and lemon juice.  Then put about 4 tablespoons of butter into a super large skillet and melt it over medium-high heat.  Add the apples and cook them down until tender, stirring often.  DO NOT OVER COOK THEM or it will be mushy! Stir in the flour, cinnamon, vanilla extract and salt, and cook for about another minute or so.  Stir in the berries and let it cool.

     Roll out 1 disk of the dough into a 9-inch pie pan.  Add the berry-apple filling, putting more in the middle then towards the outside. This will give your pie a beautiful domed look! Cut up 2 tablespoons of butter and place it on top of the filling. 

    Now, for an amazing lattice top, use a pizza cutter to slice the second rolled out dough disk into about a 1/4 inch strips. Place all of the strips on the two sides of the rim, but do not fold it onto the pie.  This allows you to easily work your way through your lattice.  I wish that I would have taken a video so that you could more easily understand this, so I promise the next lattice top pie will be filmed and posted in that blog post.  Anyway, once you are finished weaving the pieces in and out, pinch around the edges and flute the edges so it has a pretty wave going on.

Before it hit the oven!

    It's almost ready for the oven, but first whip up that egg! Use a pastry brush to spread the beaten egg on top of the pie crust. Then sprinkle the top with the coarse sugar.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with a baking sheet on the lowest rack.  Leave it in there without the pie for about a half hour.  I know that this seems absolutely ridiculous, however it makes sense. Think through this with me, you will be setting the pie on the pan, it will take the pan a while to heat, therefore the bottom of the pie will not cook if you skip this step.  So just trust me here and DO IT!  Lower the temperature to 375 degrees and put the pie into the oven.  Bake it until it is golden brown all over, which should be about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. If the edges start to get too dark, put foil around the outside.  So check the pie about 35 minutes into baking and put the foil on if necessary.  When it is finished, let it cool completely before serving.

From apples and berries to a beautiful pie!

     Needless to say, the pie was a big hit with the birthday girl and our friends. A couple people even went back for seconds.  So get out there and get baking!

The birthday girl with her homemade Berry Apple pie!

Until we eat again,

Amateur Chef Cheryl