One of my favorite things to make in the whole world is mixed berry pie! What could be better than a bounty of beautifully fresh fruit, like strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries all baked up in a buttery crust and finished off with an easy crumb topping? This is the ultimate summer pie and I’m loving every bite.
Hey, I just noticed this is the Week of Blueberries!
I have clearly been on a blueberry kick lately and can’t seem make enough tasty recipes involving the blue fruit. Sunday I made Blueberry Vinaigrette. Tuesday was the day for Blueberry Spinach Salad. And now it’s time to share my Blueberry (with lots of help from other berries) Pie!
In the winter buying berries is an occasional treat, and often disappointing since those strawberries and blueberries traveled very far to arrive in my local market. In fact most of the berries I eat in the winter are frozen! Frozen berries are very much not the same, but at least they were picked ripe and haven’t been slowly losing any flavor they started with during their trip to me.
This means that once the weather gets warm enough that the berries in the store are actually tasty, or even better – local, I go nuts! Give me all the berries! And then I’ll mix those berries up and make pie. Everything is better with pie. 🙂
While my husband’s favorite pie is my deep dish apple pie (every birthday and anniversary!), I am partial to summer fruit pies. Maybe it’s because apples are tasty and available for much of year, while berries are not. Or maybe it’s because berries are the perfect food. In competition with dark chocolate.
Yep, I’m not fooling around here. I love berries! Though maybe a black bottomed berry pie next time…hmmm, that’s something to think about. I might need to do some more baking and test it out.
While I love berries all the ways, I especially love berry pies and berry tarts. There is something about a flaky, buttery crust and juicy, sweet berries that I can’t resist.
When I’m in the mood to get a little fancy I make individual mascarpone fruit tarts. But when I want down home, country cooking? Then I want a mixed berry pie! And for some reason, I always go for a crumb topping. Strawberry rhubarb pie needs a lattice crust on top. Apple pie usually gets two crusts. And berry pies get streusel. I don’t make the rules; I just follow them. 🙂
Okay, I do make the rules since I’m the one doing the cooking, and that’s the way I like it!
With this pie, you are going to want to have at least three types of berries on hand. I go for mostly blueberries and strawberries with smaller amounts of blackberries and raspberries, mainly because blueberries and strawberries are less expensive and more available.
Also, I generally use arrowroot powder to thicken my berry pies. I find the flavor to be cleaner and it really does a great job thickening without losing its oomph when confronted with acids. Arrowroot is generally available these days in the markets around me, but I have been known to order it when I can’t find it.
As for the crust? I totally use my no fail, perfectly flaky, awesome easy pie crust! It is seriously the easiest, flakiest, best pie crust I’ve ever made.
Once you have the crust in hand, the pie goes together quick. That’s one advantage to cooking with berries – other than strawberries all you need a little wash and check for bad berries and you’re all done, and strawberries are almost as simple.
So, get to your market because it’s time to make a mixed berry pie! Your taste buds will thank you.
– Happy Pie Making, Annemarie
Midsummer Mixed Berry Pie with Crumb Topping
Ingredients
Crumble Topping
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup pecans
- 4 tbsp (2 oz, 1/4 cup) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp table salt
Pie Filling
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2-3 tbsp arrowroot powder, or cornstarch
- 2 tbsp orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier
- 6 cups mixed berries
- 1/4 tsp table salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Roll out the pie crust and fit it into the pie pan. Put the pie pan into the freezer for about 20 minutes.
- Make the topping. In the bowl of food processor, blend together all the topping ingredients until you get moist clumps of crumble. Put the topping in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
- In a large bowl, mix together all the filling ingredients. Pour them into the pie pan and crumble the topping evenly over the pie.
- Bake the pie until the crust and topping are golden brown and the filling is bubbling, 50-55 minutes. Let cool completely before serving. If you want clean cut slices, put the pie in the refrigerator until well chilled.
Notes
- I used 2 cups blueberries, 2 cups sliced strawberries, 1 cup raspberries, and 1 cup blackberries.
- The pie crust is my easy pie crust.
Emma says
You’re awesome! Thank you so much. I’m sure it will be a hit 🙂
Emma says
I’m looking forward to making this for my boyfriend’s family for Thanksgiving. They LOVE berry pies. Question!! Do you have to blind bake the pie crust?? I’m nervous about a soggy bottom. Thank you!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Hi! I make this exactly how it is in the recipe (and have made it a few times since posting) and I never blind bake it. Basically the way to ward off soggy crust is to make sure the bottom is well browned. Use a glass pie plate, be ready to shield the top from overbrowning with some foil, and wait until you don’t see any pale crust on the bottom. Good luck! You’ve got this. 🙂
Brenda says
I made this and it came out perfect! I used the orange juice, lemon zest, and lemon juice instead of the orange liquor. I put it right in the fridge after it came out of the oven so it formed nicely within a couple of hours. I made sure not to put any of the juices from the bottom of the filling bowl into the pie crust to prevent it from getting soggy. I was worried about it coming out soggy but it was absolutely perfect. I will make this again.
justalittlebitofbacon says
Lovely! I’m so happy you enjoyed the pie.
Sarah Putnam says
Can I use gluten free flour for the crumble topping as well as a gluten free pie crust?
justalittlebitofbacon says
You can certainly use a gluten free pie crust recipe you enjoy! As for the crumble topping, I have not had good luck subbing gf flour one to one for wheat flour (I tried when making a crisp over Thanksgiving). I do have a gf crumble topping in my pear crumble though, which would be great on the pie.
Linda says
Hi! I’m thinking about making this for Thanksgiving 😊 since berries are out of season, would you recommend using frozen fruit instead? Or would you stuck with the fresh? Thanks!
justalittlebitofbacon says
I would switch to frozen fruit, since the flavor isn’t going to be there for fresh. You can either thaw the frozen berries and then drain them and continue with the recipe or use them from frozen with another 2 tbsp of thickener (to deal with the extra liquid). Also, if using from frozen you may need to cook the pie a little longer. Just look for the bubbles.
Christen says
I cant wait to try this pie! It looks amazing! I wanted to ask, is there a substitute for the liqueur? Thank you!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thanks! As a substitute I would use orange juice plus about a teaspoon of orange or lemon zest (to pump up the flavor) and a squirt of lemon juice to give it just a little more acid.
Thao @ In Good Flavor says
This pie is gorgeous and the pictures are stunning, Annemarie! I am salivating looking at the pictures, no lie.
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thank you! I can say that the pie tasted just as good as it looks. 🙂