Deep Dish Peach Berry Pie

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Every once in awhile, I get a craving for pie. And when I get a craving, it doesn't go away until I get some pie.  No other dessert can satisfy me in its place.  I've made many pies and usually stick to the same recipes, but this time I felt like doing something new.  Something different.  Something deep. 

After defaulting to the same pie dough recipe for years, I decided to step outside of my comfort zone and try this one, and I am soooooo glad I did! I have never worked with such easy dough! This is my go-to pie dough recipe from now on for sure! The pie dough and filling both weren't too complicated, either.

My trick for pie dough is to use a cheese grater on the butter, then put it in the freezer for a little while before mixing it in the dry ingredients and water

Knead, knead, knead. Then separate 1/3 of the dough from the rest, form both into round mounds, wrap in plastic wrap, then place in the fridge.  Make your pie filling

In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients

In a separate bowl, whisk together the whole eggs and egg yolks

Add the buttermilk and eggs to the dry ingredients

Then add the lemon juice, vanilla,  grated lemon peel, peaches, strawberries, and blueberries.  Set aside

After pre-heating the oven and greasing a springform cake pan, take the larger mound of dough out of the fridge and roll it out on a floured surface

Transfer the dough to the pan.  I find that the easiest way to do this is by wrapping the dough around the rolling pin, then lifting it onto the pan

Ta-daa! Pie dough blanket! This dough is super flexible--not a single rip

Gently press the dough against the sides and bottom of the pan, then cut off the excess dough

Pour in the filling

Take the smaller round of dough from the fridge and roll out.  I used a small cookie cutter to make flower shapes for Easter, but use whatever you like

Use the wrapping technique from before to lift the dough onto the top of the pie.  Be careful not to stretch the dough in the process

Cut off excess dough, then press the edges of the crust together.  Don't let the edges hang over the side of the pan, or else you won't be able to unhinge it after baking. If you want, brush on a mixture of egg yolk and cream to give it a golden top

Bake the pie on top of a cookie tray to catch leaks

I baked the flower cut-outs on the cookie tray alongside the pie, removing after about 20 minutes.  I had some extra dough that I ended up freezing, but you could use the rest to make extra shapes

The cake pan unhinged flawlessly

I placed the flower shapes back on the pie for decoration.  I would've baked them on the pie this way if I had known the dough wouldn't spread, but since this was a new recipe, I wanted to be safe

Best served with some vanilla ice cream!

Deep Dish Peach Berry Pie

Ingredients:

Crust:

4 cups flour

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

3 tbs sugar

1 1/3 cups butter, grated and cold

3/4 cup cold water

Filling:

4 eggs, whisked

3 egg yolks, whisked

16 ounce bag frozen peaches

16 ounce bag frozen strawberries

16 ounce bag frozen blueberries

1 cup buttermilk (or alternatively, place 1 tbs vinegar in 1 cup and fill up with milk to make your own)

2 tsp vanilla

2 tbs lemon juice

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup corn starch

3/4 cup flour

1 tbs grated lemon rind

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

Directions:

1) Make crust. Grate butter into a medium bowl and place in freezer for about 10 minutes.  In another bowl, mix together flour, sugar, salt, and nutmeg. Add in butter, then water. Mix with your hands until dough is blended. Separate dough into a 2/3 mound and a 1/3 mound, wrap both in plastic, and place in fridge.

2) Make filling.  Whisk eggs and egg yolks together in a small bowl.  In a separate bowl, combine sugar, corn starch, four, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.  Add whisked eggs.  Then add buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon juice.  Then add grated lemon rind, peaches, blueberries, and strawberries.  Set aside.

3) Preheat oven to 350* and grease an 8 inch springform pan.  Remove larger mound of dough from fridge and roll out until it is about 1 cm thick, then transfer to cake pan and mold to pan.  Cut off extra dough.  Pour in filling.  Remove smaller mound of dough from fridge and roll out, then cut shapes with a cookie cutter.  Tranfer to top of pie, cut excess dough, and press edges of crust together.  If you want, whisk an additional egg yolk in a small bowl with 1 tbs of cream, then brush onto the crust to give it a golden color after baking.

4) Bake for 25 minutes, then wrap the edges of the pie with tin foil to prevent burning.  Cook 30-45 minutes longer, or until it is done.  Let cool a couple hours, then remove the sides of the pan. Enjoy!