Very Berry Pie

Very Berry pie is my version of an egg-less pie which is very easy and less time consuming. The magic of home baked fresh crust along with ice-cream and ripe berries is simply irresistible.  The best part is that you can use any fruit you like. This can be accompanied with a cup of your evening espresso or tea just to make it a fancy evening meal. You can bake the crust before hand and it will just take a couple of minutes to assemble the pie together. Tastes best when served fresh.

Ingredients

For the crust

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ sticks (10 tablespoons) very cold (frozen is fine) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon –size pieces

2 ½ tablespoons very cold (frozen is even better) vegetable shortening, cut into 2 pieces

About ¼ cup ice water

For the filling and topping

1 ½ cup of vanilla ice cream

1 can of an assortment of berries

½ cup red currant jelly mixed with 1 teaspoon water, for glazing

Method

For the crust

1.    Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade; pulse just to combine the ingredients.

2.    Put butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don’t overdo the mixing.

3.    Pulsing the machine on and off, add little water at a time, to get dough that will stick together when pinched. Scrap the dough out of the work bowl and onto a surface and gather it together in a ball shape.

4.    Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour before rolling.

5.    Roll the dough out on a floured surface. Once rolled, fit the dough into the pie plate and using a pair of scissors, cut the excess dough so that it hangs over the edge to a 1/2 –inch to make a decorative edge.

6.    Refrigerate the crust while you preheat the oven to 400 degrees c.

7.    Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil, fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust and fill with dried beans or rice. Bake the crust for 30-35 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

8.    Transfer the pie plate to a rack and let it cool down to room temperature before filling.

For assembly of pie

1.    Smooth the vanilla ice-cream by giving it a couple of strong turns with a spoon.

2.    Put enough of the ice cream into the tart crust so that it comes almost to the rim. Smooth the surface with a spoon.

3.    Carefully lay the berries on the cream.

4.    In a pan, mix the jelly and water and bring it to a boiling point and remove it from the stove. Let it cool a bit and dab each berry with a spot of jelly.

5.    Serve cool your Homemade Exclusive Very Berry Pie!

Done, enjoy!