King's Super Star Triple Berry Pie

The other day I was thinking about making an apple pie. The only problem after looking through the reach in freezer, “there were no more apples.” So I began to scramble through the bottom of the freezer in hopes there was something I could use to make a pie. Every once and a while I get a hankering for pie and ice cream and when this happens there’s no stopping me on my quest.

As I continued to rummage through the freezer in hopes of finding buried treasure, I note there are 3 bags of frozen berries my wife and I picked two summers ago. How I missed these gems 2 years ago I’ll never know. Since the bags where vacuumed sealed I knew they had a long freezer life. I was trying to make a decision how I could make a large pie out of one bag. These bags were large enough to make a small pie which simply would not do. Also the three bags were frozen berries of different types (blackberry, blueberry, raspberry). I was perplexed momentarily, not knowing what to do. The other factor, I’ve not made any pies to my credit, so I’m a rooky in the baking department. But I have a lot of potential since I can cook many things well. It just so happens I have an excellent pallet and sense of smell. It’s almost as if anything I cook I don’t need a recipe because I have this sixth sense. I credit my mother for this exceptional talent. Also, I have the necessary culinary raw talent to make an excellent pie with a few ideals from various recipes at my disposal and of course my sixth sense cooking abilities. Besides, my wife said it was high time I learn to bake a pie. Well, I couldn’t argue with that. Actually I tried to get her to make it but got nowhere. The wife was in no mood to bake anything. So I took the challenge to bake a pie fit for a King. “I like pie!”

I had considered going to the store to pick up more of an in season berry to complete a whole pie. Then I thought, I’ll create a Triple Berry Pie that will not only be loaded with healthy antioxidant properties but will probably taste great. Then I had a momentary glimpse from my past where I went into a “Zen like dream meditation” which I was distracted briefly by our rag doll cats chronic meowing to go outside. Anyway, I let the cat out. Damn cat almost ruined the moment. I continued the Zen altered thought processes which lead me to create “King's Super Star Triple Berry Pie.” This altered conscious took me back to the age of 10, and the baking wisdom I now can share with you.

I remembered the mixed berry pie from days long gone as a kid camping in the great Oregon North West. My mother would take us kids through the Tillamook forests in search of wild salmon berry, huckleberry and blackberry. We’d stay out in the forest for hours and eventually come back with a gallon bucket of these mixed berries. She then would make the magic pie dough, create the pie with its gooey mixed berry inners. She then made the pie in a large glassware pan (12” x 24”), covered it with a large lid. The pie was suspended 2’ (on grill rack) over a hot birch wood open fire pit “keeping flames to a minimum and stoking coals as necessary.” The top heat for pie top was captured by a large container cover over pie setting on pit rack. This cover was a light weight steal container (~15” x 36” dimensions) that acted somewhat with properties of a convection oven. I have to tell you this three berry pie was the best pie I’ve ever eaten and ever will (open pit fire added unique flavor from the birch smoking coals). One day, I will make the trip to the Tillamook woods during late August, early September and gather these berries to simulate this cooking style over an open pit fire. When I do, I’ll document it and show you how it’s done.

Strange how all this stuff comes back to you as an adult when you finally have a hankering for a berry pie and your wife says, “Since your the "king" of the house, you bake for once, I know you have the royal cooking chops for it.” Fortunately I "the king of the house" recalled the mix of berries my mom used to bake a fantastic open pit outdoor pie from my childhood. Coupled with mom’s outdoor ingenuity as a culinary mixed berry pie baking genius I determined these mixed local berries (blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry) from the NW fields of Portland, OR would work well as a berry-mix pie fill. I decided to make 5 x 4” Berry pies in the little foil pan pie containers. I was going to make one large pie in a 12-16” pie pan but thought little personal pies would be more fun.

Now I had the next challenge to overcome. What type of dough recipe would I use? Since I’m not really talented in the baking department I decided to combine two pie recipes and call it “King's Super Star Triple Berry Pie.” Here it is.

Servings: 5-6 x 4” Mini-Berry Pie Pans, or 1 Large x 12-16” pie (servings 10 Large Slices)

This pie creation is a combination of a cobbler, regular pie recipe, a bit of ancient history, and easy for us guys to handle. We don’t like to roll dough, instead we’d prefer beating the hell out of a cobbler type mix, getting it into the pie pan, pouring the gooey mixture and getting it into the oven as fast as we can. I digress. Actually, I didn't use the crumbly mixture dough recipe with the pies you see pictured. My queen bee made these little jewels with a conventional pie crust recipe using my 3-berry ingredients (recipe below). “I admit” her top pie cover (pictured to the right) is prettier looking than my cobbler pressed dough crust mix. Yes I cheated on making the pie crust with a cobbler like recipe cause I knew I could press it into a dough like structure. Guys need short cuts because we “got” lots of things to do! The queen's conventional pie recipe is listed below for those that want a traditional look and pie crust flavor.

Cobbler Type King's Super Star Triple Berry Pie Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 ½ cups white sugar

¾ stick of butter (heat to liquid, let cool and stand)

5 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 Tsp corn starch (dissolve in cold water before entering mix)

1 tsp salt

2 Tsp lemon juice

2 eggs

9 cups of berries: Blackberries (3cups), Blueberries (3cups), Raspberries (3cups) rinsed and drained.

The King's Queen “Conventional Pie Pastry Dough” (oil pastry- See Pie Pictures)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp salt

½ cup vegetable oil

5 tsp cold water

Add flour and salt. Pour vegetable oil in mix and cold water. Stir lightly with fork. Form into dough balls, flatten ball (roller), cut proper pie dimensions. Double recipe as needed (makes enough pie dough top/bottom 9-inch pie). Sprinkle top of dough with ½ to ¾ cup of sugar before you bake pie

King's Cobbler Pressed Pie Crust Directions,

1. Man’s Pie “Cobbler Crust”: In large bowl blend flour, 1 cup sugar (not all the sugar, see #2), vanilla, and eggs, salt and next add liquefied butter. Mix thoroughly.

“If you want to substitute cobber dough mix for conventional oil pastry dough use directions above for a conventional pie look and taste. Yah, hers looks prettier than mine, but I think mine tastes better. Don’t tell her I said that.”

Get either dough mix (cobbler/conventional crust) too runny, add a little flour. If the mix is too dry, add a little hot water until you get a nice crumbly, or conventional dough ball type texture (don’t keep going back and forth cause it will mess up either crust taste!). I’m providing some trouble shooting skills if you make some mistakes. Guys need this kind of information when trouble shooting pastry skills are required. This is more of an art than science, so ensure you work with vigor (about 3 minutes to mix cobbler dough well), and then let the mix stand for about 25min. Crack a beer and then relax to catch the rest of the ball game before half time. Well if it’s a great second quarter, don’t start this pie thing until half time. Of course unless it’s a great half time… I digress. “Better crack a beer before you get started.”

2. In a “separate bowl” mix in remaining 1 ½ cup of sugar, lemon juice, dissolved corn starch and berries for gooey inner pie filling.

“After about 15 minutes of letting the dough stand, it’s best to get the rest of the job done. I’d time this next part around the half time.” Crack another beer. “No more beer after this until you “gets” the pie in the oven.” “Or you’ll mess it up!”

3. Lay dough in pie pan (when ready during half time and after 2^nd beer) at pie pan center bottom and begin pressing a thin layer throughout the bottom and sides with your fingers. It’s like playing with Play Dough. Easy but challenging for the novice baker. Next pour 3-Berry mix into pie pan(s).

If you have extra dough-berry mix, make more small pies since there are various sized pie pans one could get their hands on. Plus the women will expect the men to “not” be perfect bakers in the kitchen. We don’t want to disappoint them and “not” make them feel they are being replaced as the supreme baker. So, I have you guys covered. This dough-berry mix recipe is not perfect. I designed it this way. My wife usually says something like “looks like you need a little more work in the proportions department.” “What are you going to do with the extra berry mix?” “Wait for it.” Of course, I used the extra berry mix; it’s great over ice cream. Just bring the extra berry mix to a boil for about 20 seconds (stir throughout). Let stand, cool and put in fridge for later use.

And when you have extra portions, it’s good to then let your better half have input. “Wait for it,” then you can reply back after her input with something she would expect a novice to say. “Extra dough, no problem… It’s dough!” Then she responds, “I knew I should have helped you so you wouldn’t be so wasteful.” You know she has to say something like this and I’d never deprive her of doing so. I nod in agreement of what she’s saying as she humbles me to her proportion mix superiority. Besides, she bakes me more pies this way. “I like pie!”

4. After berry mix is poured into pie pan(s), make a little dough ball for each personal pie pan, or remaining crumbly dough mix and press as flat as possible. Peel off surface and lay over top of pie pan. Mold to pan, or if you don’t have enough dough to complete the top covering… Sprinkle the crumbly mixture over the top sparingly to make a light cobbler top appearance. Cobbler sprinkling bakes well into the top surface of the pie. When out of the oven it will look like a light rolled pie cover.

5. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes.

One word of warning, if you make personalized mini-pies (cobbler/conventional type pie) be sure to hide one for yourself, or you won’t get one. I made this mistake. I left 6 of them in the fridge longer than 48 hours (I did manage to save one for myself). Girls love these things and will not care one bit about your hard labor, or whether you get a taste of your own creation. These things are fantastic in flavor and more addicting than any single berry pie I’ve ever eaten, or any pie for that matter. Oh and did I say berries are a super anti-oxidant food? Below I’ve added links to other articles that talk about super foods and why they are good for you. Enjoy the King's Super Star Triple Berry pie. Almost forgot, don’t forget the vanilla ice cream scoops over the hot infernal fresh out of the oven. Eating the pie(s) after it stands for about 20 minutes is best. I know it’s “a little heavy in calories.” This is why I’m warning you now, don’t do this weekly. Pace yourself, everything in moderation.