Mini Mixed Berry Pie

Mini Mixed Berry Pie ~  Time to get your mini on for these Mixed Berry Pies. Petite and portable these are perfect for a picnic or summer BBQ.

Mini Mixed Berry Pies

This is round two of these Mini Mixed Berry Pie. The first round was a fantastic flop. This time  I made sure not to overfill the wells and I added a bottom crust and changed out a full top crust for a lattice one and yay – success!

Okay, so the lattice is not perfect, but who cares because the pies are awesome! It’s not often that I scarf down my baked goods straight from the oven, but this one was an exception. I couldn’t resist the sweet smelling berries and the flaky pie crust.

A few notes:

• You can make this as one large 9-inch pie or you as minis. If you make the mini pies you will need to make two batches of the pie crust. Do not double the recipe!
• The pie crust is from Alton Brown. It’s hands down the best crust I’ve had!
• The recipe calls for lard, so if lard is not your thing you can trade it out for some Crisco.
• Your palate your preference – use any berry combination you prefer or whatever is in season for your area.
• The pies are not actually baked in the cupcake liners. They were placed in the liners afterward for portability.

Mini Mixed Berry Pie

Crust adapted from Alton Brown | Makes 8 mini pies or one 9-inch pie

Preparation: Heat oven to  375 degrees F. Lightly butter the muffin pan wells and then dust with flour.

Ingredients:

Alton Brown’s Pie Crust:

• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) butter, chilled
• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) lard, chilled
• 6 ounces (approximately 1 cup) all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling dough
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/4 cup ice water, in spritz bottle

Pie Filling:

• 1 cups blueberries
• 1 cups raspberries
• 1 cup blackberries
• 1/4 teaspoon orange zest
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of ginger

Instructions:

Making the crust:

1. Cut butter and lard into small pieces and freeze for at least 15 minutes or overnight.
2. Place flour and salt in a food processor bowl and pulse 2-3 second bursts, 3 to 4 times. Add butter and pulse 5 to 6 times until the texture looks mealy.  Add lard and pulse for another 3 to 4 times. Remove food processor lid and spritz surface with water. Replace lid and pulse 5 times. Spritz more water and pulse 3 to 4 times or until mixture holds together when squeezed. Place mixture in large zip-top bag, squeeze and form dough into a ball and then flatten out ball into round disk pulse on and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
4. Lightly butter and flour muffin wells. Place prepared muffin pan in the refrigerator to chill.

Making the filling:

1. Place pie-filling ingredients in a bowl and toss to combine.

Assembly:

1. Remove dough from refrigerator. Lightly cover work surface with flour and turn out dough on to it. Roll out dough to an 1/8 inch in thickness and use a 3-inch round cutter to stamp out rounds. Place rounds in muffin wells.
2. Fill wells with pie filing three-quarters of the way up the crust.  Dip fingers in cold water and gently run it along the edge of the crust.  This will help the lattice strips stick to the bottom crust.
3. Using a scalloped pastry cutter cut 5-inch strips. Arrange strips into lattice design and press ends of strips into crust wall to hold in place. Brush top of lattice strips with milk and dust with granulated sugar.  Return pan to refrigerator for 30 minutes before baking. Bake at 375 degrees (F) for 20 minutes.  Let cool on a wire.