Triple Berry Pie with Ivy Top

We are having dinner at Heath's parents house tonight - a little belated Easter meal.  As always, I used this as an excuse to bake something! I figure that if I have somewhere to bring it, then I won't eat it all by myself...a.k.a. less miles to run tomorrow!

       Bringing pie to a bunch of pie-freaks (including myself) is never a bad idea...I've been on a triple berry kick lately so it sounded good.  I wish I could take credit for the decorating idea of this pie, but I actually found it online when trying to decide what kind of pie to make.  Heath and I cut out all of the leaves and ivy and carved the details on ourselves!  I cannot vouch for the taste yet, ask me again tomorrow...but I can say that the creation of this pie was FUN, artistic, and a great way to spend some q.t. together.

The Crust 

For this particular pie, I cheated and used Wegmans pre-rolled pie crust.  I was lazy. BUT I will put in the yummy pie-crust recipe I  normally use when making it from scratch. 

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 Tb sugar

½ tsp salt

6 Tb unsalted butter, chilled, cubed

3 Tb solid vegetable shortening, chilled,cubed

4 Tb (or more) ice water

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional, depending on pie filling...GREAT for triple berry)

 

Blend the flour, sugar, and salt.  Add the butter and shortening; pulse in food processor until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Drizzle 4 tablespoons of ice water over mixture. Mix just until moist clumps form, add more water if necessary.  Gather the dough into a ball and flatten into disk.  Wrap in plastic, chill 1 hour.  

Roll out dough onto flat surface (the thinner you roll it, the flakier and yummier the crust!) and press into pie pan of your choice.

Triple Berry Filling

1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 1/2 cups blackberries
1 1/2 cups raspberries
1 Tb lemon juice
1 cup sugar
4 Tb quick-cooking tapioca

In a large bowl, drizzle berries with lemon juice. Combine sugar and tapioca. Add to berries; toss gently to coat. Let stand for 15 minutes. Spoon into pie crust. Top with either crumb-top (see below) or crust-top.  Bake at 400 F for 45 minutes or until bubbly and done.

*I've done this pie with a crumb top before - 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup butter...literally get in there with your clean hands, cut all ingredients together until crumbly.  Sprinkle over the top.