Summer Fruit Pie

Berries galore.

Continuing from yesterday... along with the purchased Brown Velvet cake from CakeLove, I made what was originally going to be a blackberry pie using our hand-picked blackberries. But by this time we didn't have many left, so to improvise, I made the same recipe but replaced five-sixths of the required blackberries with other berries and summer fruit: specifically, blueberries, raspberries, and yellow peaches (yep, we still had peaches left at this point... and they were still fantastic). This post is an excellent example of how recipe substitution a) is not that scary, and b) can be used to the advantage of what's in your fridge or on your supermarket's shelves.

Medley. Mélange.

I also learned a new fruit-pie trick, thanks to the bakers who post reviews for recipes on Epicurious. By brushing beaten egg onto your bottom crust before spooning in your fruit filling, you avoid the juices from the fruit making your crust soggy. This crust could have roundhouse-kicked my peach pie's crust in the face.

It's like Chuck Norris is 'bout to jump outta this thing.

I was nervous about the outcome of this berry-peach pie, especially because the filling for the last one was a bit soft, thereby sliding out of the crust as soon as one piece was removed... and because I was making it for my future husband's grandparents. But it was successful, due in part to the addition of tapioca, which really helped the filling to gel. In fact, it turned out to be so delicious that it's really a shame the recipe wasn't originally written for mixed berries, as it was nice to have a multitude of summery flavors. Not a bite left on any of the grandparents' plates! In the grand Waitress tradition of naming each pie, I present to you: Impressing the In-Laws pie.

I mean, you'd be impressed if your future
granddaughter-in-law made this for you, right? RIGHT?

Summer Fruit Pie
via Gourmet, adapted moderately

Pie Dough (full recipe, for double-crust pie)
6 cups fruit (I used a rasp:black:blue:peach ratio of 1:1:2:2)
1 to 1 ¼ cups sugar, to taste
¼ cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, strained
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1 egg, lightly beaten

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400°F. Peel and pit peaches, and chop into bite-sized chunks.

Step 2: Toss together berries, peaches, granulated sugar to taste, cornstarch, butter, lemon juice, water, and tapioca. Let stand for 20 minutes, tossing occasionally.

Step 3: Roll out one dough disc and place in 9-inch pie dish. Brush egg onto the dough, covering the bottom and sides in a thin layer. Evenly spoon filling into the crust.

Step 4: Roll out the other dough disc and create the lattice onto the top of the pie. Brush egg onto the lattice and the edges of the dough.

Step 5: Place pie on center rack with a baking sheet one rack down, to catch any overflowing juices. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. (Check pie after 45 minutes: If edge of crust is browning too quickly, cover edge with foil or a pie crust shield and continue baking.) Cool completely on a rack before serving.