berry crumb pie aka i think i love pie

I have been on some kind of pie making kick lately. In the last few months I’ve made a blueberry pie, 2 strawberry pies, this berry crumb pie and last weekend I made an apple strawberry pie.

Compare this to last year, where I made approximately zero pies.

I think I might love pie after all.

I really want to make mini pies now. I must experiment!

This pie makes use of the bounty of the season with fresh strawberries and blueberries. It’s summer! You should bask in the glory of summer berries!

These are some of the ingredients you need. Flour and sugar were too shy for the line up. Also: that Speculoos filled chocolate bar doesn’t go into the pie. It’s just for eating while you make the pie.

It’s there for support.

I like making the crumb topping first. Flour, sugar, cinnamon, soft butter. If you’re feeling giddy, add in some oatmeal.

You can stir this if you want, but I chose to just squish it that day. Squissssssssh.

It ends up looking a little coarse and crumbly, like this. You can also just melt the butter and stir, but what’s the fun in that?

Pie shell: prep it. Stab it over and over with a fork. You won’t hurt it’s feelings.

Yes, I’m still using the Trader Joe’s shell. I’m still too lazy to make my own. Don’t judge.

Wash and slice your strawberries. Wash your blueberries. Zest your orange. Squeeze it in your orange juice, too. Add flour and sugar and toss til it looks like this:

Kind of a weird, gloopy mess. But it gets all magical in the oven!

Plop into pan. Make pretty edges. Take a photo.

Top with crumbs and pats of butter.

You probably don’t need the extra butter.

Do it anyway.

Outcome: deliciousness.

See? The filling is nice and set up. A good “berries to goo” ratio.

Oh, pie. I do love you!

Berry Crumb Pie

1 – 9 inch pie crust

For the filling:
3 cups of fresh strawberries, sliced
6oz fresh blueberries
1 cup sugar
¾ cup flour
zest of 1 orange
half of a squeezed orange

For the crumb topping:
½ cup sugar
½ cup flour
5 tablespoons softened butter
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a sheet in the oven to catch pie drippings. Prep your pie crust. If using the Trader Joe’s crust (which is what I like to do since I’m a cheater), be sure to defrost your crust the night before in the fridge and then pull the crust out about 30 minutes before you want to use it . Once ready, place into your pie pan and prick it several times over with a fork.

Prepare your crumb topping! Mix all of the dry ingredients together and then toss in the softened butter. Squish together until it resembles coarse crumbles. Set aside.

Wash and slice your strawberries. Wash blueberries. Toss berries together with orange zest and orange juice. Add sugar and flour and mix until incorporated – it’ll look kind of gloopy! Put into prepared pie pan and top with crumb topping and extra pats of delicious butter.

Wrap the edges of the pie in foil to prevent burning the crust. Bake for 20 minutes on top of the sheet at 400 degrees and then reduce the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees. Bake for an additional 40 minutes. Remove the foil during the last 15 minutes of baking to get a golden crust on the edges.

Eat slices of pie outdoors and enjoy the summer breezes.