Years ago, when I was on summer staff at Camp Mennoscah, several staff members spent a bit of an afternoon harvesting tons of mulberries off of a couple trees.
This resulted in some time spent that afternoon in serious pie-baking mode, and it was the first time I ever saw a latticed pie top made from start to finish.
To be honest, it ruined the magic a little for me, because it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be, but the pie was yummy enough to bring some of the enchantment right back again.
I don’t make fruit pies all that often, so I haven’t tried my hand at too many lattice tops since, but I got the chance again recently for the recipe I’m sharing with you this week for a blueberry peach pie.
Obviously, fresh peaches and blueberries are tough to come by this time of year, so although the recipe calls for fresh ones, I’ll tell you that I made my pie with frozen fruit.
If you’d like to give this a shot before fresh fruit is back in season, make sure you fully thaw your frozen fruit and then leave it in a colander for quite awhile until you’re sure it’s done giving off all of its extra moisture. (This will take awhile—maybe a couple hours. Be patient.)
I also added about a tablespoon or so of cornstarch to my fruit to really make sure that any juices were congealed and wouldn’t end up making a soggy pie, and I spooned it into my crust so that I didn’t accidentally pour in any more juice that gathered at the bottom of the bowl I had it in.
This recipe came from the blog “Sally’s Baking Addiction.” You can find the original at https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/06/14/blueberry-peach-pie/. I played with the spices in mine, and as I already noted, I used frozen fruits instead of fresh.
Blueberry Peach Pie
Ingredients
- 2 pie crusts homemade or store-bought, chilled
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 3 cups fresh peaches sliced and peeled
- 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 egg beaten
- sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Fold the fruit in with the sugar, flour, cinnamon and all-spice.
- Roll out one of the pie crusts and line an eight- or nine-inch pie pan with it.
- Spoon in the fruit mixture. Cut the butter into small pieces and dot it along the top of the filling.
- Roll out the second crust and either place it on the top and cut several steam vents in it after crimping it together with the bottom crust or cut the dough into long strips and weave a lattice top on the pie, crimping the edges with the bottom crust when you’re finished.
- Brush the top with a thin layer of the beaten egg and sprinkle on some additional sugar and cinnamon to your taste.
- Bake on a baking sheet lined with foil (you don’t want to clean this out of the bottom of the oven—or off the baking sheet, for that matter) for 20 minutes.
- Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for another 30 to 35 minutes.
- Let the pie cool before serving (or serve it while warm, but be ready for runny filling).
If you’re feeling a bit intimidated by making a lattice crust, don’t be, and if you need some guidance, I’d recommend searching for a tutorial video on YouTube. You’re bound to find dozens.
And for those who don’t know quite how easy a lattice top is, be ready to hear how impressed they are with your pie handiwork, and even if you don’t give it a shot, the pie is good enough to get you accolades either way.
This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 11, 2018.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
