Jumbleberry Pie - My first pie!

August 2, 2006 | Filed Under Pies, Baking

My ankle is much better and I don’t need to use crutches to get around. So, I decided to celebrate by making Jumbleberry pie. The minute I saw this pie on Cream Puffs in Venice, something about it intrigued me so. Perhaps it was the photo of all those luscious-looking fruits – blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and red currants (I’ve never tasted red currants before.). I love fruits! Or maybe it was the photo of the beautiful brown baked pie top with the hint of escaped purple berry juice, and the nicely crimped edges.

Cream Puff (aka Ivonne) has baked several different delicious-looking cakes and tarts. Perhaps, the Berry Jumble pie was an accumulation of my desires for one of those baked goodies. Whatever the reason, I took one look at the photo, read her post, and knew I wanted to bake Jumbleberry pie – even if it was too hot to turn on the oven.

With a sure and steady step, I walked to the store and bought my ingredients. I bought most of the fruits from the street vendor.

Making the Crust:

I thought I would have problems making the crust. However, the process was much easier than I imagined. I expected to throw flour all over the place. Amazingly, I was pretty neat.

My only problem arose when it was time to roll out the dough to line the pan and cover the top. After rolling the dough, it turned out too thin. When I lifted it, it fell apart. Darn! I rolled it again and tried once more. I didn’t have enough dough to line the pan. It barely reached the top of the pan. I rerolled it a third time but had no luck.

I worked on the dough for the covering and barely had enough to leave a one-inch overhang at the edge. Talk about frustrating.

Can anyone tell me why I had this problem? I think I’m going to have to take lessons or watch someone roll the dough out.

Making the filling for the pie:

The vendor didn’t sell red currants and neither did the grocery store. I’ve never seen them sold before. Maybe, if I go to a large Farmers Market I’ll find them there. I decided to use strawberries as a substitute.

When I opened the two raspberry containers, I’d bought, I found all the raspberries moldy. I had to throw them away. What a shame. I almost used cherries, but I just didn’t know if it would work and didn’t want to take a chance. So my filling ingredients involved blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and ~~red currants~~ strawberries.

Ivonne mentioned that the original amount of cornstarch listed to balance the amount of liquid that the berries released was insufficient. As a result, she increased the amount to a half-cup. However, her pie was still watery than she liked. Bearing that in mind, I increased my cornstarch amount to a whole cup. I don’t know if that was too much, but I didn’t have a problem with soggy pie.

I covered the filling as best as I could but since I didn’t have enough dough for the covering, I couldn’t seal and crimp the edges properly. It was pretty pathetic, really. But, hey, it was my first time, I reminded myself.

After I covered the pie, I remembered that I hadn’t sprinkled the butter pieces over the fruit. I had to uncover the pie as carefully as I could and pray that my thin covering didn’t tear. Uggh!

I made amateurish slashes (exceedingly long slices) on the covering to allow the steam to escape, placed it in oven, and prayed.

My pie baked nicely, I’m happy to write. It didn’t look perfect. Instead, it looked like a real amateur baked it. However, it tasted very good. I loved the crust, which had a very nice buttery, soft, flaky taste.

I think my filling was too thick. I’m not sure if it was because of the amount of cornstarch I used (one cup) or the amount of berries in the recipe. Three cups blueberries, two cups blackberries, two cups raspberries, and one and a half cups of red currants – that’s A LOT of berries. So, what do you think? Was my problem the cornstarch or the berries?

Anyway. I baked a pie, which I never thought I’d ever do! What a way to start! I’m ready for other pie/tart baking recipes! Yes! Thanks for the inspiration, Cream Puff!

Paz

Jumbleberry Pie
Adapted from http://www.epicurious.com/. For the original recipe, click here.

For the crust:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 sticks cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp. salt
ice water

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt and mix well.

Add the butter and shortening and with your fingers or a pastry blender, cut the butter and shortening into the flour until it resembles oatmeal or coarse crumbs.

Add 3 tablespoons of ice water to the mixture and begin to gather into a ball. If it does not easily come together, add another tablespoon of ice water. Do not overwork the dough. Once it has come together into a ball, knead a few times on a floured work surface. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

For the pie:
3 cups blueberries, washed and dried
2 cups blackberries, washed and dried
2 cups raspberries, washed and dried
1-1/2 cups red currants, washed and dried
1/2 cup cornstarch (I used a half cup but I’d recommend using a bit more.)
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
a few tablespoons of heavy cream (to brush the top of the pie)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine all of the berries.

Add the cornstarch, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and cinnamon and mix well.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and divide in half. Roll half the dough out into an 13-inch circle. Fit the dough into a 9-inch deep dish pie plate or pan.

Scrape the berry mixture into the pie plate and refrigerate while you roll out the top portion of dough.

Roll out the second half of the dough into an 11 or 12-inch circle. Remove the pie from the refrigerator and sprinkle the butter pieces over the berries.

Carefully transfer the rolled out dough to the top of the pie plate. Trip the edges of the dough so that you have a one-inch overhang. Seal the edges of the dough all the way around and crimp decoratively.

Slash the dough a few times to allow steam to escape.

Brush the top of the pie with the heavy cream.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the crust is golden and steam is coming out of the vents in the pie. You will notice the juice bubbling up as well.

Serve the pie warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Note: If you’re using frozen berries, let them thaw completely and drain off any juice. This will help prevent the pie from being too liquidy. Use any combination of berries that you like!

Making my crust — easy!
Fresh fruits for the filling