Homemade Cherry Berry Pie. Is there anything more satisfying than a homemade pie filled with fresh seasonal fruit? Wow your family and guests with a homemade flaky pie crust and a delicious filling made of cherries and berries of your choice (I used cherries, tayberries, and strawberries). Serve it slightly warm, plain, or with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top!
Song of the day: Doin' Time - Lana Del Rey
Cherries are succulent morsels of summer. Combine them with some seasonal berries, sugar, and spices. Add a buttery and flaky crust to encase them all and you have a recipe for success.
Homemade Cherry Berry Pie
I love a good challenge and yes, making a whole pie from scratch can be defined as a good challenge. You need to dedicate quite a few hours of your time in the kitchen making the double crust, the filling, waiting for the resting time, then assembling, and finally baking. You might be thinking "wouldn't it be better to spend the beautiful sunny day outdoors and just go get a store-bought pie?" While I could agree on spending the day outdoors I also have to say that there is something incredibly satisfying, and rewarding in making a whole pie from scratch to serve to family and friends. Not to mention it would probably taste better.
A pie crust recipe you can rely on
Once I found a great pie crust recipe I could trust, I stuck to that and rely on it to always deliver the best pies ever. The recipe is from the Duchess Cookbook. Duchess is a famous pastry shop here in Edmonton which also offer baking classes. I have attended many of their classes and they have strengthened my confidence in the kitchen. The crust has half butter and half vegetable shortening, all-purpose flour, salt, and water. Sometimes I make it in a stand mixer, sometimes in a food processor, while other times I go old fashion and use a bowl, a pastry cutter, and my hands. Anyway, it's pretty straightforward to make. Bonus: the recipe makes enough for a double-shell pie and a single pie crust, which I freeze and have handy to make a crumble pie, hand pies, turnovers, or a galette (sweet or savory).
TIP: The thing to keep in mind when making pie dough from scratch is not to overwork the dough and warm the butter. Overworking the dough develops the gluten which toughens up the crust. As a consequence, a crust not as flaky as you would want it to be.
The filling is as important as the crust
A good filling is half the success of your homemade pie. Sometimes I had pies, even the ones from bakeries, that tasted more of cornstarch than the actual fruit. I don't like that at all. They are dense, yes, they don't spill out too much when you cut into it, but are they actually good? Not in my humble opinion. I like to taste the real flavor of the fruit and have some juices, but not too much as to make it soggy. We found the filling to be perfectly firm the next day when we had friends over and we warmed up the pie in the oven and served it with vanilla bean ice cream. Only a couple of hours after we took the pie out of the oven and I took the pictures, the pie was still slightly warm and oozing a bit, but it was indeed so delicious!
Cooking the filling or not?
To prevent the bottom crust to be soggy, a trick is to cook the filling on the stove before adding it to the unbaked pie shell after it cools down. The berries almost melt and the cherries have a soft yet plump texture. The color is beautiful, crimson and glossy. The flavor has hints of lemon, bourbon vanilla, almond and is not too sweet.
Homemade Cherry Berry Pie with a Lattice Top
Whether to make a lattice top or not is totally up to you. You could just do a double-crust pie, where you roll the second ball of dough out into a disk, cover the filling, crimp the edges and make slits on top. Pie vents allow the steam produced by the filling during baking to escape. We decided to go with a weaved lattice pattern. I had Loreto help me with the weaving. If you have little helpers or your better half, that would help tremendously.
Aroma is key......
There is something in the aroma of a freshly baked pie, it feels homey and comforting! That buttery crust and the smell of the sweet cherry-berry interior make my mouth water. I better hurry up and finish these shots so I can taste it!
Finally, I can try it........
Firstly, this crust is so flaky and flavorful. Its tenderness is evident as it crumbles in my mouth melting away on my tongue. Secondly, that filling, not too gluey, I taste the sweetness of those beautiful organic B.C. cherries along with the Tayberries and strawberries, creating a lovely balance in flavor and texture. Add in the creaminess of a good vanilla bean ice cream, and I am literally floating on the clouds of heaven.
Fulfillment...........
Yes, buying a pie at the store is easy and quick, and when time is tight and confidence not too high, certainly an option. However, I personally love the feeling of making dough from scratch. Then, after everything is said and done and this Homemade Cherry Berry Pie graces the table with its poise and aroma, guests and family all sitting around smiling and knowing you made this, left only to hear the sighs of satisfaction and the forks scooping every last morsel of this incredible pie on the plate. For me, that is totally fulfilling!
Enjoy!
Song of the day: Doin' Time - Lana Del Rey
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Homemade Cherry Berry Pie
Homemade Cherry Berry Pie. Is there anything more satisfying than a homemade pie filled with fresh seasonal fruit? Wow your family and guests with a homemade flaky pie crust and a delicious filling made of cherries and berries of your choice (I used cherries, tayberries, and strawberries). Serve it slightly warm, plain, or with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top!
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 servings 1x
Ingredients
For the Pie dough (makes for 1 pie, top and bottom + 1 bottom pie shell to freeze):
- 640 g (4 cups) all purpose flour
- 226 g (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold, in cubes
- 200 g (1 cup) vegetable shortening, cold, in cubes
- 1 tsp salt
- 242 g (1 cup) ice water
For the Filling:
- 3 cups fresh cherries, pitted
- 2 cups mix berries (I used tayberries and strawberries)
- ¾ cup raw cane sugar
- 2 Tbsp corn starch
- 1 ½ tsp bourbon vanilla powder
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- pinch of salt
For the top:
- 1 small egg
- 1 tsp water
- turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
Pie dough:
- Place the flour, butter, shortening and salt into a stand mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until the fats are in small chunks and the mixture looks a bit dry (about 10-15 seconds). Do not overmix it.
- Add the ice water all at once and mix on medium speed until the dough just comes together. Some small lumps of fat should remain in the dough.
- Shape the dough into 3 balls about the same weight (I use a scale). Wrap each one in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. At this point you can freeze 1 ball of dough that you are not going to use.
Assembly:
- Remove the dough from the fridge 10 minutes before you start rolling. Lightly flour a rolling pin and the work surface.
- Pressing the rolling pin on the dough, slightly flatten it, then start rolling from the center outward. After each stroke of the rolling pin, rotate the dough a quarter turn clockwise and roll again, lightly dusting more flour on the work surface, or on the dough, as needed, to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Continue rolling until the dough is -more or less- a 12-inch circle and about ¼-inch thickness.
- Carefully fold the dough in half and lay it across one side of a buttered pie pan, placing the seam of the dough in the center of the pan. Gently unfold the dough, easing the dough without stretching it, down into the pan, and up the sides. Trim the pastry ½ inch beyond pie plate, crimping edges as desired. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- In the meantime, prepare the filling. Combine the cherries, berries, cornstarch, sugar, salt, vanilla, almond extract, and lemon juice in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer, stirring almost constantly, until the mixture starts to thicken, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat, transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and cool to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 400° F (200°C).
- Roll the remaining dough into a 12-inch circle. Cut pastry with a fluted pasta cutter (or a pizza roller) into strips 1 ½-inch wide. Weave strips over the fruit mixture in a lattice pattern. Cut excess length and press the ends of the strips into bottom pastry rim. You might have some leftover pastry dough.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Brush pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado or cane sugar.
- Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 400° F, then reduce the oven temperature to 375° F and continue baking for 55-60 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling. Cover with foil, if necessary, to prevent excess browning.
- Remove from the oven, place pie plate on a rack and let cool for at least 2-3 hours before slicing.
Notes
The longer you wait to cut into it, the cleaner the cut and less oozing.
Store in the fridge, lightly wrapped. You can warm up any leftovers in the oven at 350° F till pie is warm.
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 70 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Pies
- Method: Baking
Keywords: pie, summer. cherry, berry, dessert, butter, homemade, delicious, from scratch, butter
I love baking and kneading dough because it takes me to a happy place in my soul.
Karly says
Gorgeous pie!
Thank you so much! It was so delicious! 🙂
PAT CYGAN says
WHAT ARE TAYBERRIES & WHAT CAN I USE AS A SUBSTITUTE?
Hi! Tayberries are a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry. You can use whatever berry you have, I am thinking raspberries would work really well here.
Gloria says
Look at the crust on that pie....perfection. Hubby loves cherry pie. My aunt had an orchard with I was a kid. We picked cherries EVERY summer. This brings back those memories for sure.
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Gloria! I get rave reviews for my pie crust, everybody loves how melt in your mouth it is. The combo cherries and berries was the right choice. So delicious! I wish I tried it with homegrown cherries!!
Tamara Andersen says
What a gorgeous crust! I don't make desserts often, but the thought of the fresh berries and a flaky, buttery crust is making my mouth water. I think it's enough to throw discipline out for a day!
★★★★★
Thank you! That crust melts in your mouth leaving the fruit to shine