Quadruple Berry Pie

Quick! Make this now! Before berries disappear from the shelves, the weather turns cool, everybody starts wearing boots and you have to work out how to use your iphone/blackberry wearing gloves. Now that you've been sufficiently warned...you might have seen some triple berry pies out there. But triple is nothing to me. I see your triple berry pie, and I raise you one quadruple berry pie. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

I have this terrible paranoia about soupy pies. I have terrible nightmares of someone cutting into a perfect looking pie and it just oozing out everywhere. And anyone who has made a berry pie before has probably experienced just that. So with this pie I set out to make sure that didn't happen, with multiple drainings and sugarings and cornstarch use.

And it worked! Like really, really worked!
Now while I've said before that you should try a piece of the fruit in your pie before baking to adjust the sweetness level, I probably should have listened to that advice for all four fruits in here. I think I only tried a strawberry and a blackberry, so either the raspberries or blueberries in here must have been tart. But some people like tart pies and for the rest - well you can always sprinkle a little more sugar on.
You could definitely try this with a frozen berry mix, but I would be even more concerned with liquid. Perhaps defrost everything first and pat dry? If you try it, let me know.

Since I have SO many more recipes to still share with you I'm going to try and get another post up tomorrow - seriously you wouldn't believe the backlog here. No guarantees with my crazy busy days, but check back in and see!

Tip of the Day: Some berries are juicier than others - play around with the amount of cornstarch you use if you think you have particularly juicy or dry fruit.

Recipe:
Crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons shortening, cubed and frozen
10 tablespoons butter, diced and frozen
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Filling:
1 cup fresh strawberries, quartered
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup fresh blackberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch

1 egg white
demerara sugar

Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine.
Sprinkle the shortening over the flour, and pulse until it resembles cornmeal.
Then scatter the butter on top and pulse until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl, and stir in 4 tablespoons of the ice water.
If the dough doesn't come together, sprinkle a tablespoon at a time until it does.
Divide the dough into two discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about an hour.

Place the raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the sugar and cornstarch and gently stir to coat.
Let the bowl sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Transfer to a large colander to drain all the liquid. Taste a piece of each fruit to check sweetness. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar at a time until the desired level is reached.

Roll one disc of dough into a 12-inch circle, and carefully fit the dough into a 9-inch pie plate, leaving the overhang. Cover with saran wrap and freeze, about 30 minutes.
Fill the crust with the fruit mixture.
Roll out the remaining dough into a 10-inch circle or square and cut into strips.
Follow lattice instructions here.
Trim the excess of dough to about a 1/2 inch, and crimp to form a neat edge.

Beat the egg white and brush it on top, sprinkle with the sugar.
Bake at 425 F for 25 minutes, then reduce to 375 F and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes.
Let cool at least two hours before serving. Cover loosely with saran wrap and store at room temperature.