Winter Berry Streusel Pie

It's freezing outside, which means it's a perfect time for baking. I made this pie from a blueberry pie recipe in The Seasonal Baker by John Barricelli. It works great with frozen mixed berries and the streusel topping is ridiculously thick and delicious. It's really nice to be able to have berry desserts in the winter and be reminded of warmer times.

Winter Berry Streusel Pie

Slightly modified from The Seasonal Baker by John Barricelli

Filling

4 cups (1 2/3 lbs) frozen mixed berries

1/4 cup plus 2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

¼ cup cold water

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Streusel Topping

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter

Filling: Thaw the berries at room temperature in a colander set over a bowl to collect the juice. (I got impatient and gave them some help in the microwave, which also seemed to help get more juice out of them.) Move the thawed berries to a medium bowl. Measure the collected juice and add water, if needed, to obtain ½ cup of juice.  Pour juice into a small sauce pan and stir in ¼ cup sugar. In a small bowl, whisk ¼ cup cold water with the cornstarch.

Bring the juice mixture to a boil over medium heat, then stir in the cornstarch mixture,  and return to a boil. Cook while stirring until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the remaining 2/3 cup sugar, salt, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Cook and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over the thawed berries and mix gently. Cool completely. 

Streusel Topping: In a large bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Melt the butter, then let it cool for 2 minutes. Pour melted butter over flour mixture. Stir and work with fingertips to form large crumbs.

On a floured surface, roll out the pastry dough to a 12-inch circle and fit it into a 9-inch pie pan. Trim to a ½ inch overhang and crimp the edges with you fingertips. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

Set the oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat to 450 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Transfer the cooled filling to the pie shell. Cover completely with streusel topping. Place the pie of the prepared baking sheet. Put the pie in the oven and immediately reduce temperature to 425 °F. Bake for 20 minutes, then rotate the baking sheet and reduce heat to 350 °F. Continue baking until the streusel is golden brown and the juices are bubbling, about 40 to 50 more minutes. Cool completely and serve.

Pate Brisee

1 1/8 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/8 cup ice water

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture forms coarse crumbs with chickpea-sized chunks of butter, about 10 seconds. With the food processor running, add ice water through the feed tube a little at a time, until everything is moistened and the dough begins to clump together, but has not yet formed a ball. If the dough is too dry and doesn’t hold together, add a little more water.

Scoop the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, shape into a flattened disk, and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour before using.

I thought this dough was a little odd, although the final product tasted good. There is a lot of butter in this dough and a lot of butter bubbled out of the crust while it was cooking. You definitely needed to have a baking sheet under the pie pan to catch all the extra butter that leaks out during baking.