Emily Kotecki’s Berry Pie

PIE-A-DAY #17

This recipe comes to us from Emily Kotecki, who has curated her food blog, Voila! since February 2008. Since she started the blog, she’s gotten married, covered the 2008 presidential electionand returned to graduate school. She is almost finished with her Master’s degree in Museum Education from George Washington University and lives in Arlington,Virginia with her high school sweetheart, James.

It’s summer and that means a plethora of berries. Berries here, berries there, berries everywhere! It also means a plethora of delicious possibilities. This pie is constructed so that a chock full of fresh berries sits on top of an amazing graham cracker (almost cookie-like) crust. Add a dollop of freshly whipped cream and you’re looking at one awesome summer dessert. Bring it to a party, eat it all yourself, either way, enjoy!

Keep reading for the recipe…

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust

9 graham crackers, broken into rough pieces

2 T. sugar

5 T. butter, melted and warm

Berry Filling

2 cups raspberries

2 cups blueberries

2 cups blackberries

1/3 scant cup sugar

3 T. cornstarch

1/8 tsp. salt

1 T. lemon juice

2 T. red currant, apple or other jelly

Directions

Preheat oven to 325

Graham Cracker Crust

1. In a food processor, process graham crackers until evenly fine. About 30 seconds (you should have 1 cup of crumbs). Add sugar and pulse to combine. Continue to pulse while adding warm melted butter in a steady stream; pulse until mixture resembles wet sand.

2. Transfer to a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie plate. Using the back of a spoon spread crust evenly over pie plate and up the sides. Bake until crust is fragrant and beginning to brown, 15-18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Berry Filling

1. Combine berries in a large colander and gently rinse. Spread berries on papertowel-lined baking sheet and gently pat dry.

2. In a food processor, puree 2 1/2 cups of the berries until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour puree into small sauce pan.

3. In a small separate bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Whisk to combine then add to puree mixture.

4. Bring puree to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. When the mixture reaches a boil and is thickened to the consistency of pudding, remove from heat, stir in lemon juice and set aside.

5. While the puree is cooling, place remaining berries in a medium bowl. Heat jelly in a small ramekin in the microwave for about 10 seconds, or until warm and melted. Pour jelly over the fruit, gently combine and coat evenly.

6. Pour puree over cooled crust (if it’s not cool yet, stick it in the freezer for 5-7minutes). Distribute berries over puree. Loosely cover pie with saran wrap and place in fridge until puree has set, at least 3 hours. Cut and serve with whipped cream.