Cranberry & Wild Blueberry Pie! With Lattice Top Tutorial :)

A couple weeks ago I wanted to embrace Fall and really get in the spirit. I thought I'd take a break from the normal cakes and cupcakes and challenge myself to PIES. I personally am a Pie girl all the way. Though my heart belongs to cake, I must say my first love has always been the pie :) I've never made a homemade pie (yes, this is true) and figured I'd take a few days and teach myself! The next few blogs will show you my pies, recipes & Youtube videos that really helped me with my "pie-teachings". There will be about 5 more to come next week, as my "Pie Journey" is still continuing. I must say, it's pretty addicting :)

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Cranberry & Wild Blueberry Pie:

My first Pie was a berry pie. I found the recipe on Bon Appetit and it was a feature pie for their "25 Perfect Pies for Fall" blog - so, naturally, it had to be a stop on my Pie Week!

 

Filling

• 16 ounces frozen organic wild blueberries (do not thaw)
• 12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw; about 3 cups)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

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First thing you want to do is combine all of the ingredients in a large saucepain on medium heat.

You do not need to thaw your fruit (if they are frozen or chilled). I used a bag of fresh Cranberries for mine, and bought a frozen bag (16oz.) of frozen blueberries because it was cheaper to do it that way. This is the Target Brand.

Add all the berries

Add 1 1/4 cup of Sugar

For the Lemon Zest and Lemon Juice additions, you should only need 2 lemons at most.

Add your 2 Cinnamon Sticks (You will be removing later but they will add the rich flavor to the blend as it boils)

Add the 3 Tablespoons of Cornstarch

For your lemon zest - I usually will use a hand grater, or this fancy tool I found at Walmart (I believe it was $5). It grates your lemons and has a nice shield on back so it will hold your shavings on the back & show you the measurement. It's pretty handy dandy. Otherwise any grater you have will be fine for the 1/2 Teaspoon Grated Lemon Peel.

Once everything is added in the saucepan, it should look something like this :)

Cook everything over medium heat until it starts to thicken. Mine took about 13-14 minutes to do so. Once it seems thick, continue to boil for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Turn off the stove and let it cool for a few more minutes.

After a few minutes of cooling on the stove, transfer your berry mixture into a glass or ceramic dish and stick in the refrigerator (covered!) until it cools completely. This can be done a few days in advance even before making your pie. Mine took about 3 hours to cool completely. During that time I  made my pie crust.

 

 

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For your pie crust, you can use a store-bought pie crust (thawed). Or you can make your own! I found some really helpful recipes/videos for pie crust on YouTube (here are the two I used for mine):

OR

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FILLING & Making the Lattice Top!
Once your pie crust is made, the filling is made & chilled completely, it's time to get to business! This is where the real "art" of pie making comes in. Unwrap your pie crust and place in the pie pan and press sides to pan so it's in there nice and tight (be sure not to rip or tear crust though).

 Once you fill your pie crust, it's time to make the Lattice Top!

 LATTICE TOP! Tutorial & Video!

I found an amazing video on making the Lattice Top, and you can find it HERE. It's really not that hard once you break it down into steps (as I did below).

For the TOP pie crust you want to cut strips into the crust (Like Pictured). Try to make the strips as straight and even as possible so that they make it acrossed the top of your pie. Then, Lay each strip across the top of your pie - using ALTERNATING strips each time.

Once you do the whole pie strips, it's time to use the other strips to WEAVE the strips together. After your finished with the weaving, then press the ends together and fold underneath to seal the pie crust to the pan. Brush the strips with the Heavy Whipping Cream and sprinkle with Nutmeg for a little extra spice to the crust.

Once all is finished, bake your pie at bake at 350 degrees, until crust is golden and filling is bubbling. This should take about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool pie on rack then SERVE!

 I prefer a more "brown" crust. However, if you don't like it that way - you can always add a foil covering to the crust before you put it in the oven, and it will prevent the crust from burning or becoming "too brown".