Apple pie is one of my favorite desserts, but since I’ve already blogged my favorite version I thought I’d share an apple pie spin-off. Sometimes I use apples and a combination of blueberries, blackberries, and/or raspberries but this time I used blueberries and cherries. I guess technically cherries are a stone fruit and not a berry but whatever…I’m still calling it apple berry pie =). You can use whatever combination of fruits you have on hand, the recipe is forgiving. Maybe it’s not the prettiest pie you’ve ever seen, but go ahead and give it a chance. One bite of the flaky pie crust and sweet/tart filling and I think I can make a believer out of you ;). Homemade crust is so much better than store-bought, and really doesn’t take that much extra time – totally worth it. Don’t try to cheat =). And if you cut your pie while it’s still warm it will be a little juicy (as you can see in my photo), but if you let it cool completely it will thicken nicely. Enjoy!
Apple Berry Pie
for the crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
2-3 tbsp ice water
1 tbsp butter, melted
1-2 tbsp white sugar
for the filling:
1 cup blueberries
1 cup dark sweet cherries
2-1/2 cups peeled and sliced apples (I used Granny Smith)
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine flour and salt in large bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry cutter (or two knives) until you have pea size crumbs. Add ice water one tablespoon at a time until dough forms a ball. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. On lightly floured surface, take about half the dough and using rolling pin, roll to about 1/8″ thick. Place in 9 inch pie pan, trimming edges if necessary.
3. In bowl, combine filling ingredients and toss to combine. Pour into dough lined pie pan.
4. Roll remaining dough on lightly floured surface and place over filling. Seal edges. Brush top crust with remaining 1 tbsp melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 50 minutes more or until golden brown. Cool before slicing. (Filling will be juicy if you slice while hot, but will thicken upon cooling.)
