Maple Mixed Berry Pie

I love pie – in my book, it’s far superior to cake – and I have a particular weakness for berry pies. Juicy and summery, the berries break down to completely fill the space between the crusts, with no gaps like apple pies tend to have. And because I like berry pie so much, I have high standards for it, so I thought long and hard about exactly how to achieve the pie I was envisioning. I started with blackberry-maple, but thought the blackberries needed extra dimension, so cherries and blueberries got added to the mix. The ratio of cornstarch to fruit is just enough to have the pie hold it’s shape, but not so much that it loses its juiciness. And the crust utilizes a little extra butter and my new favorite pastry method, frozen butter grating, for extra flakiness. To top it all off (quite literally), I used a cute little leaf cookie cutter to decorate the top and make it all foresty and picturesque.

Maple Mixed Berry Pie

Serves 8-12.

• 2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 TBS sugar
• 12 TBS salted butter, frozen
• 6-8 TBS ice water
• 1 1/2 c. wild Maine blueberries
• 2 c. blackberries
• 2 c. pitted sweet cherries, torn in half
• 3/4 c. maple syrup
• 4 TBS cornstarch
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 TBS lemon juice

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Remove butter from the freezer and grate over the large holes on a box grater, working quickly to keep the butter from melting. Add the cold grated butter to the flour and toss with your fingers to coat the butter with flour. Add ice water to the mixture 1 TBS at a time, using a fork to swirl the ice water through the flour after each addition. Add ice water until the dough just comes together when pressed with your fingers. Form dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2. Mix the blueberries, blackberries, and cherries together in a large bowl. Pour half of the fruit into a large saucepan, and add the maple syrup to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until berries have broken down and released their juices, and liquid has reduced by about half. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and cinnamon. Whisk the lemon juice into the cornstarch. If it is still very thick, add a few tablespoons of the juices from the room temperature berries, whisking until you have a pourable mixture. At this stage, scrape the cornstarch mixture into the bowl with the chilled fruit and stir to combine, then add the cooked fruit and stir until thoroughly mixed. Set the filling aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Divide the pie dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. On a lightly floured surface, roll the larger piece of dough out into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Carefully lift and place into a pie plate, pressing dough gently down onto bottom. Trim the edges, leaving about 1/4 inch of overhang. Poke the bottom of the crust with a fork to allow air to vent, then bake the crust for 10 minutes in the oven, until just golden. Remove from the oven and add the prepared filling, then return the pie to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, roll out the remaining piece of dough and use a cookie cutter to cut out a number of small shapes. After the pie has baked for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and cover the surface of the pie with overlapping pieces of the dough shapes (I used small leaves). Return the pie to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the top crust is golden brown, another 25-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before cutting. Serve with vanilla ice cream.