Strawberry season is either nearly over or completely over, depending on where you are in the country. (We have maybe a week more here…got a late start this year!) Raspberries are up next, then we’ll be into boysenberries, marionberries, tayberries, blackberries, blueberries…yum.
I had so many strawberries this year, I made four batches of jam, two gallons of strawberry ice cream, a batch of strawberry shortcake, and now a strawberry pie. Strawberry pie is one of my favorite ways to eat fruit. This recipe works with just about any berry, though.
I eated a piece before I thought to take a picture...
Whatever Berry Pie
- About 3 pints of whatever berries you have (all the same or a mixture)
- 1 cup of sugar (more if they are really tart, less if they are super sweet)
- 2 Tbls Clear Jel (or corn starch)
- Water
- One blind-baked pie crust (just means you baked it with nothing in it)*
Wash your berries. Remove stems and cores from strawberries. Line your baked pie crust with about two pints of the berries, depending on their size. Don’t fill the crust all the way; leave room for the jelled part of the filling. You can slice strawberries or leave them whole, other berries you can just pour into the pie crust.
Put the remaining berries into a saucepan, and crush with a potato masher or some other mashing instrument. Add the sugar. Pour about 3/4 cup of cold water into a small glass, add the 2 Tbls of Clear Jel or corn starch, and stir until completely dissolved. Pour this into the berries and sugar. Stir well. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring to boil, and boil until the mixture thickens and turns clearer, about3-5 minutes. Pour the thickened berry mixture over the fruit in your pie crust. Stick in fridge until firmly set, several hours to overnight. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.
*So, er, about the pie crust. You can get a premade frozen one at the store, and just bake it at 425 for about 20 minutes, and that’s fine. Or you can get some of the Pillsbury pre-rolled dough, put it in your pie pan, and then do the same. Or you can get a Krusteaz “just add water” mix, roll it out, then put it in the pie pan and bake. (If you do either of the latter two, you should use a pie chain, pie weights, or dried beans to hold the crust down flat and prevent it from bubbling up or shrinking.)
Or you can make your own crust. It’s not that hard. It’s just a step further than the Krusteaz, really. And it tastes better.
Pie Crust (one double crust or two single crust)
- 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, pastry flour, or a combination (I like about 1 cup of pastry flour to 1 1/2 cups of all purpose)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup of very cold butter, lard and/or shortening (I usually use 1/2 cup of butter, 1/2 cup of lard or shortening)
- Ice water
Measure the flour into a bowl. Stir in the salt. If you are using a combination of fats, take the shortening or lard and “rub” it into the flour, with your hands. You’re aiming for a texture like corn meal or crumbs. Then dice the butter finely and toss into the flour mixture. Mix as little as possible, but distribute the butter evenly. (If you’re using all one kind of fat, rub it all in, or cut it in with a pastry cutter or two knives. It will just have a shorter flake to the crust is all.) The final texture should be like coarse meal, and it should still have bits of fat in it.
Sprinkle the flour mixture with 1/4 cup of ice water, and toss with a fork. Add more ice water and toss the mixture gently until it’s all dampened, and you can squeeze it into a ball. Don’t knead, just gather and press. The goal is to work the dough as little as possible, and keep it as cold as possible to keep the fats from melting into the flour.
Divide the dough in half. Put one half in a ziploc bag in the fridge, save for another pie. On a floured board and with a floured rolling pin, roll out your dough into a circle to fit your pie pan. It’s easier to transfer to the pie pan if you roll it up on your rolling pin, put it over the pan, then unroll it. Flute the edges with your fingers, or just trim the dough to the edge of the pan. Fill the crust with a pie chain, pie weights, or dried beans, and bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes until lightly brown. Cool completely before filling with the berries.