Pear Berry Pie Recipes

Steps:

• To make the poached pears, put the sugar in a big saucepan with the lemon peel, cardamom pods, nutmeg, cinnamon and 1 litre water. Bring to a gentle simmer. Lower the pear halves into the liquid and place a circle of baking parchment on top, so they cook through properly. Leave over a medium heat, so that a few bubbles break the surface every now and then, and cook for 15 mins. Allow to cool in the liquid. Can be chilled overnight if making ahead.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Dust the work surface with a little plain flour. Roll out the pastry so it's big enough to line a 20-23cm frying pan, pie dish or shallow baking tin. Grate a little nutmeg over the surface, then gently roll again to help it stick. Lift over your dish, press into the corners, then trim the edges. You can give it a pretty crimped edge, if you like, then wrap the off-cuts in cling film and keep in the fridge until needed. Scrunch up a sheet of baking parchment, unfold, and lay it over the pastry. Fill with baking beans and bake for 15 mins. Remove the beans and parchment, brush with some of the beaten egg and return to the oven for another 5 mins.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Cook the remaining pears and sugar in a small pan until the pears are soft enough to squash with the back of a spoon. Drain off 3 tbsp of the poaching liquid and mix this with the cornflour, then pour back into the pears and continue cooking and squashing for another minute or so, until the filling has thickened.
• Sprinkle the ground almonds over the pastry case, then add the squashed pear mixture and scatter over the berries. Remove the poached pears from their liquid and blot them on some kitchen paper. Arrange them face-up among the pear mixture and berries. Using a mini pastry cutter, cut little shapes from the leftover pastry, then arrange them on top. Brush the pastry pieces with beaten egg and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake for 45-50 mins until the pastry is golden and berry juice is bubbling. Cool for 10-15 mins before serving with custard, cream or ice cream, if you like.

Steps:

• For crust:
• Blend all purpose flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add chilled butter pieces and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 3 tablespoons ice water and process until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)
• Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Fold edges under, forming high-standing rim 3/4 inch above dish sides; crimp edges decoratively. Freeze crust 25 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake crust until light golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool while preparing filling. Maintain oven temperature.
• For filling:
• Combine pear pieces, 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons orange juice and salt in large nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat until pears are tender but still hold their shape, stirring often, about 6 minutes. Transfer pear mixture to large bowl; cool to room temperature. Add blueberries, flour and remaining 6 tablespoons sugar to pears; toss gently to blend.
• Transfer filling to cooled pie crust, mounding filling slightly in center. Sprinkle with Walnut-Streusel Topping. Bake pie until juices bubble thickly, fruit is tender and streusel topping is golden brown, about 1 hour 5 minutes. Cool pie on rack until lukewarm. Cut pie into wedges and serve.

Steps:

• For the pear and fig filling: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Combine the pears, fig preserves, cornstarch, cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
• For the apple cranberry filling: Place a large nonstick pot over medium heat. Add the apples, frozen cranberries, sugar and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring aggressively to burst the cranberries as they soften, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the cranberry juice and cornstarch together in a small bowl to form a slurry. Pour the slurry into the fruit and stir to combine, then cook until a thick sauce has formed, 1 minute more. Turn off the heat and set aside.
• For the blueberry filling: Combine the blueberries, honey, cornstarch and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
• For the pie: On a lightly floured surface, stack 3 rounds of pie dough, then roll out to a 20-by-15-inch rectangle. Place the rectangle on one of the parchment lined baking sheets. Use scissors to trim to a 1-inch overhang on all 4 sides and save any excess dough for later use. Place in the fridge to firm up for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, stack the remaining 3 rounds of dough, then roll out to an 18-by-13-inch rectangle. Use a pizza cutter or knife to slice the rectangle lengthwise into twelve 1-inch-wide strips. Place the strips on the remaining lined baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, or until it is time to create the lattice.
• Remove the bottom crust from the refrigerator and prick in several places with the tines of a fork. Pour the blueberry filling in one corner and spread diagonally to fill a third of the pan (the fruit layers should not have a perfect edge or stopping point). Next, pour the apple cranberry filling in the middle and spread diagonally to fill another third of the pan. Finally, pour the pear and fig filling in the remaining third of the pan.
• Using a basket weave method, create a diagonal lattice on top of the pie with the remaining dough strips: Arrange 6 strips down diagonally across the pie, leaving about 2 inches between each dough strip. Fold back every other strip and place a strip down perpendicularly. Unfold the strips over them. Repeat this process with the remaining 5 strips, alternating the strips that are lifted to create a woven pattern. Press the end of each dough strip along the rim of the baking sheet and trim off any excess. Use your fingertips or the tines of a fork to crimp the crust of the pie along the rim of the pan. Brush the lattice (but not the edges) with the beaten egg.
• Bake until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Place a baking sheet on the bottom oven rack.
• Combine sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and lemon zest in mixing bowl. Roll out half the pastry and line a 9-inch pie pan.
• Arrange pear slices in layers in the pastry-lined pan, sprinkling the sugar mixture over each layer. Dot with butter and sprinkle with lemon juice.
• Roll out remaining dough for the top crust. Use your finger dipped in a small bowl of water to moisten the rim of the bottom crust. Place top crust over filling, and trim edge using kitchen shears or a sharp paring knife. Fold edge under bottom crust, pressing to seal. Flute edge. Cut slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.
• Bake in the preheated oven on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 35 to 40 minutes longer. Allow to cool several hours before serving.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425°F. In medium bowl, mix 2 cups flour and the salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).
• Gather pastry into a ball; divide pastry in half. On lightly floured surface, shape each half into flattened round. Roll one round of pastry, using floured rolling pin, into circle 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side. Trim overhanging edge 1 inch from rim of plate.
• In small bowl, mix sugar, 1/3 cup flour and the cinnamon. Place pears in pastry-lined pie plate. Sprinkle sugar mixture over pears. Top with cranberries. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over filling.
• Roll other round of pastry; cut into strips about 1/2 inch wide. To make lattice top, place about 7 strips across filling in pie plate. Weave a cross-strip through center by first folding back every other strip of the first 7 strips. Continue weaving, folding back alternate strips before adding each cross-strip, until lattice is complete. (To save time, place second half of strips crosswise across first strips instead of weaving.) Trim ends of strips. Fold trimmed edge of bottom pastry over ends of strips. Press edge with fork.
• In small bowl, mix egg white and 1 teaspoon water; brush on lattice pastry top. Cover edge of pastry with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through lattice crust.