blackberries

While we were in Maine last weekend, Price made blueberry pancakes for breakfast one day. Of course they were Maine blueberries. On a whim we gave Autumn some. I say ‘on a whim’ because she is not a breakfast person baby. Her morning bottle is eaten in 2 parts and it’s the smallest bottle of the day. So I didn’t think she would be interested in it.

Well, I was wrong. Really wrong. She gobbled it up. And then we made more and saved them for lunch for her and she ate them up too. (Just to clarify there was no syrup involved!)

We had occasionally given her berries prior to this but this has definitely awakened something in her because since then she eaten a lot of blueberries and had some

 

So I can see that she is going to L-O-V-E this Mixed Berry Rustic Pie when she is older.

There are 4 different kinds of berries in this pie- blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. It’s loaded up with berry goodness. When Price had his slice (for breakfast- better lighting!) he said it was ‘berry good’. ba-dum-tss!

Because there is not much too it I would really urge you to make homemade crust for it as it adds to much good texture and flavor. Plus, I think it would just look better with its handmade edges vs its factory cut circle-y edge. I am a big fan of store-bought crust, but I think this one needs a handmade one.

As well, I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to putting in cornstarch to thicken the filling.  I think it’s sooo much worse to have a soupy pie than one that is a bit too thick. It affects the bottom of the crust and how you get the slice out of the plate. So if you think you’ve used enough, add some more!

Other than that… this recipe is a piece of cake! 🙂

Mixed Berry Rustic Pie

Makes a 9″ Pie

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup cold butter
• 1/8-1/4 cup ice water

For the Filling

• 1 pint blueberries
• 6 oz raspberries
• 6 oz blackberries
• 12 oz strawberries
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2-3 Tablespoons cornstarch (depending how juicy the fruit is)
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Process

For the Crust

1. In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt and sugar. Cut the cold butter into very small pieces, put back into the refrigerator to keep extra cold.
2. Using a food processor/pastry cutter, or your hands, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture crumbly and looks like sand.
3. Slowly add in the water until the mixture holds together.
4. Pat and form into a loose ball. If the mixture is too warm at this point then put it back into the refrigerator for a few.
5. Flour work surface and roll out crust two inches larger than pie pan. Place crust in the pie pan.

To make the Pie:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine berries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice in large bowl.
3. Add berries to pie crust. Then fold edges of crust over filling, creasing as needed.
4. Bake at 30-40 minutes or until filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown.
5. Serve warm with ice cream!

Inspired from Tidy Mom