Bumbleberry Pie

Bumbleberry Pie
Fruit pies are American comfort food. Summertime is when the abundance of berries and fruits call for the pie baker to get busy! With the rainbow of fruits and berries before us in June, July and even August, there is no lack of combinations to try.

If you opt to skip baking a pie only because the crust is a challenge, here is a simple recipe for a “press-in" pastry shell. It hardly takes more time and effort than pressing a commercial refrigerated pastry shell into a pie pan. What's lost in flakiness is gained in flavor (not to mention the comfort of knowing what's IN the crust itself!)

When you bake this type of crust, it doesn't shrink or change shape when you need a pre-baked pie shell. For a double-crust pie, I just press half the crumbs into the pie pan, and pour in the filling and top the filling with the remainder of the crumbly mixture.

A while ago I received a request for "Bunbleberry Pie". I had never heard of such a thing, but after some research discovered that this i s a category of pie which mixes fruits and different kinds of berries. I've tested the recipe with a variety of fruit and berry combinations, including blueberries, blackberries and strawberries, with or without rhubarb, with or without apples all with delicious results. Just be sure to have a total of 5 cups of fruit.

The idea of bumbleberries fascinated our grandkids so much that they asked for bumbleberries and cream for breakfast almost every morning. We just combined different berries in a bowl and they were perfectly satisfied! Now I’m thinking – maybe a bumbleberry coffeecake or a bumbleberry cheesecake would be fun. But, here’s the pie for starters.

BUMBLEBERRY PIE

Pastry for a double crust pie, either your own recipe or Press-In-Pastry (recipe follows)

1 1/3 cups white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 small cooking apples, peeled, cored and diced

1 cup raspberries

1 cup blackberries or blueberries

1 cup rhubarb, cut into 1 inch lengths

Water and about 1 tablespoon additional suga r for top of the pie

Preheat the oven to 425*F. Roll or press pastry into a 9 inch pie plate. Stir sugar and flour together in large bowl. Add apples, raspberries, blackberries, and rhubarb. Toss together, and turn into pie shell. Cover with top past ry (either crumb pastry as described in the Press-In Pastry recipe, or with your own rolled-out pastry). Seal the edges. If you use a rolled-out top crust, slash vents onto the top crust, if using crumb pastry, this is not necessary. Bake for 45 minutes, or until browned and filling bubbles. Makes one 9-inch pie, about 8 servings.

MIXED BERRY PIE

1 recipe Press-in Pastry

2 cups fresh blackberries

2 cups blueberries

1/2 cup fresh gooseberries or raspberries

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup sug ar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 425*F. Prepare the filling and press half of the crumbly pastry evenly into a 9-inch pie pan. Combine the berries, almond extract sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl; toss to mix well. Turn into the u nbaked crust. Sprinkle with the remaining pastry crumbles, or press the remaining crumbs together to make a dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and using a cookie cutter, cut into leaf, flower or other shapes and arrang on top of the fruit filling. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the filling in the center is bubbly and the crust is golden brown. Cool until barely warm or to room temperature before serving.

PRESS-IN PASTRY

2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter, or 3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 whole egg

Mix flour and sugar together. Cut in the butter (you can do this in the food processor) until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg until well blended. Press half of the mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan, pushing it firmly to make an even layer. For a pre-baked pastry shell, preheat the oven to 300*F. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the pastry is lightly browned. Cool completely before filling.

For a double-crusted, filled pie, pour filling into the unbaked crust. Sprinkle the second half of the pastry mixture over the top. Bake as directed for a double crust pie.