Mixed berry pie with pecan-orange lattice crust
The selection of this recipe was borne out of a need to bring something to a friend's 30th birthday party. I asked him what his favourite dessert was and he said some kind of berry tart/pie, so this is what I selected. I was intrigued by the particular combination of berries--raspberries, blueberries and cranberries. I can't think of a time that I've had a pie with either raspberries or cranberries. No time like the present!
Recipe
from Bon Appetit DessertsCrust½ cup pecans, toasted2¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour½ cup sugar1 tbsp finely grated orange peel¾ tsp salt¾ cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½" cubes4 tbsp (or more) ice waterFilling1⅓ cups plus 1 tbsp sugar, divided¼ cup orange marmalade¼ cup cornstarch1 tbsp finely grated orange peel¼ tsp ground allspice1¾ cups frozen raspberries, thawed, drained1½ cups frozen blueberries, thawed, drained1¼ cups fresh or thawed frozen cranberries1 egg beaten to blendCrust: Finely grind pecans in processor. Add flour, sugar, orange peel and salt and process until well blended. Add butter; using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal. Using on/off turns, blend in 4 tbsp ice water, adding more by teaspoonfuls, if needed, until moist clumps form. Gather dough together; divide into 2 pieces, 1 slightly larger than the other. Flatten each into disk. Wrap separately in plastic and chill 1 hour.Filling: Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375 F. Combine 1-⅓ cups sugar, orange marmalade, cornstarch, orange peel, and allspice in large bowl. Add all berries and toss gently.Roll out larger dough disk on floured surface to 13" round. Transfer round to 9" diameter glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1-½". Roll out smaller dough disk to 12" round; cut into 14 ½" wide strips. Mound filling in crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Place remaining 7 dough strips at right angle atop first 7 strips, forming lattice. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal and forming high-standing rim. Brush lattice (not crust edge) with egg and sprinkle with remaining 1 tbsp sugar.Line baking sheet with foil and pale in bottom of oven under rack to catch any drippings. Place pie on oven rack and bake until crust is golden brown and filling bubbles thickly, covering crust edge with foil collar if browning too quickly, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool at least 1 hour. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Musings
A few notes on preparation: In our oven, it took about 1 hour to bake.We really enjoyed the flavours of this particular pie--it felt like a very unique flavour profile. The orange and the allspice really added an interesting dimension. The primary issue was the consistency of the filling. The crust was nicely browned and the filling was bubbling when I took it out; however, when we arrived at the party, we discovered that it was quite liquid-y. So it would be nice to figure out how best to thicken it up a bit further. As it is, David noted that it tasted a touch cornstarch; although, I didn't notice that as much. I could either cover it and let it continue to bake for the whole time (1 hour 15 minutes as opposed to just an hour). Alternatively, I could try pre-cooking the filling on the stove, much like I did in the blueberry lattice pie, where the consistency was perfect. Nevertheless, the pie was almost gone when we left, so it seemed to be successful. With a few tweaks, I could see it being a delicious pie staple.