When I was a child my mom made us a fresh fruit pie almost every night. Our family favorites were cherry & blueberry. There was always a leftover piece after dinner; I always wondered what happened to it. It wasn’t until I was much older that I discovered that after I went to bed, my father would finish off the remaining pie. Years passed & as we became more diet conscious & swept up in the demands of modern life, the pies disappeared, much to my chagrin. My younger sister, Kristine, was tutored in the art of pie making by her grandmother. I was amazed when she told me that her grandmother did not even have to measure ingredients when she made a pie crust. She did it strictly by sight. Kristine & I spent a couple of afternoons in her farm house kitchen in Whitewater & together made a couple of apple pies & tested out some ideas that she & I had for this pie. What a wonderful time that was. I love spending time with family, it is the most important thing in the world to me.
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preparation
preparation Time90 mins
cook Time
80 mins
servings
12
calories
0 per serving
ingredients
- 2 blueberries, Fruit Filling
- 12 ounces blackberries, Fruit Filling
- 4 black plums, Fruit Filling
- 2 nectarines, Fruit Filling
- 2 peaches, Fruit Filling
- 1 pounds cherries, Fruit Filling
- 1 tablespoons lemon juice, Fruit Filling
- 3/4 cup sugar, Fruit Filling
- 2 tablespoons sugar, Fruit Filling
- 1/4 cup pie thickener, Fruit Filling
- 1 tablespoons pie thickener, Fruit Filling
- 1/2 cup unbleached flour, Pie Crust
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, Pie Crust
- 3 tablespoons dough improver, Pie Crust
- 1 teaspoons salt, Pie Crust
- 1 tablespoons sugar, Pie Crust
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter, in pieces, Pie Crust
- 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, in pieces, Pie Crust
- 4 ounces frozen lard, in pieces, Pie Crust
- 3/4 cup ice cold water, Pie Crust
- 1 egg, Egg Wash
- 1 tablespoons whole milk, Egg Wash
- 1/2 cup apricot jelly, Pie Glaze
directions
Step 1: Fruit Filling
In a large bowl, combine the berries and pitted cherries.
Step 2: Fruit Filling
Peel and pit the nectarines, peaches, and plums. Slice into 1 inch pieces and place in the bowl.
Step 3: Fruit Filling
Add the sugar and lemon juice and toss to coat. Let the fruit stand at room temp for 1 hour, tossing occasionally.
Step 4: Fruit Filling
While the fruit is macerating, begin preparing the pie crust, starting with prepping the roll out surface with the ice water pan as directed.
Step 5: Fruit Filling
After the fruit is fully macerated, strain, reserving 1 cup of the juices.
Step 6: Fruit Filling
Whisk pie thickener and fruit liquid together in a small bowl. Add pie thickener mixture to the fruit. Toss gently.
Step 7: Fruit Filling
Pour fruit mixture into prepared bottom pie crust. Place in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 400F.
Step 1: Pie Crust
To insure a flaky crust, take a large roasting pan, fill it with ice and a little water and allow it to sit on the surface that you will be rolling the dough out on.
Step 2: Pie Crust
30 minutes after you have placed the ice water pan on the counter, in the bowl of a food processor, combine the flours, dough improver, salt, and sugar. Process for 20 seconds to evenly distribute the dry ingredients.
Step 3: Pie Crust
Add the butter and pulse around 10-12 times to create a course meal texture. Add the frozen lard and pulse 6-8 times to partially break up the lard. *Clumps can be about the size of a small blueberry.
Step 4: Pie Crust
Dump the mixture into a large bowl and add the water, using a fork to mix.
Step 5: Pie Crust
Bring together 2 balls of dough, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Step 6: Pie Crust
Take the ice water pan off of the counter and set aside.
Step 7: Pie Crust
Remove one of the dough balls from the refrigerator and press into a disk on a lightly floured silicone rolling mat placed over the area on the counter where the ice water pan was.
Step 8: Pie Crust
Roll it out to fit a 9 inch deep dish pie plate. Place into the pie dish, cover loosely with plastic wrap.
Step 1: Egg Wash
Using a fork, beat egg and milk together.
Step 2: Egg Wash
Flatten second dough ball into a disk and roll it out as close to a rectangle as you can. Take a pizza cutter and cut out 12 long strands that are a little wider than a linguini noodle.
Step 3: Egg Wash
Remove pie from refrigerator. Taking 3 at a time, braid the 12 strips. Brush the perimeter of the pie with the egg wash. Place the braids on the edge of the pie dish.
Step 4: Egg Wash
Cut 4 long strands of dough. Working with 1 strip at a time, pinch the edges together slightly and gently roll into a vine.
Step 5: Egg Wash
Using a small flower cookie cutter, cut out 12 or so flowers. Roll any remaining dough out again and cut out about 15 leaves.
Step 6: Egg Wash
Arrange vines, leaves, and flowers on the top of the fruit. Brush the crust with the egg wash, making sure to avoid getting it on the fruit.
Bake
Bake at 400F for 40 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350F. Tent the pie with aluminum foil. Bake until juices bubble, about 40 minutes longer. Let cool on a wire rack.
Step 1: Glaze
Heat the apricot jelly over a medium flame, stirring constantly. When the jelly has turned to a liquid, take it off the burner and strain it.
Step 2: Glaze
Brush the glaze over the top of the pie after the pie has almost cooled completely. **Don't add too much glaze or it will look like you have jelly on the top of your pie, which you do, but it looks better with less.