Mixed Berry Streusel Pie
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 27, 2013
Time
1½ hours, plus 30 minutes cooling and 3 hours chilling
Yield
Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients
Crust and Streusel
1 ½ cups (7½ ounces/213 grams) all-purpose flour 9 graham crackers, broken into rough pieces½ teaspoon salt 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces and softened2 ounces (57 grams) cream cheese, cut into ½-inch pieces1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ cup (1½ ounces/43 grams) old-fashioned oats ½ cup packed (3½ ounces/99 grams) light brown sugarFilling
6 cups mixed fresh berries (see note)¾ cup (5¼ ounces/149 grams) granulated sugar ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest 3 tablespoons Minute TapiocaBefore You Begin
While any combination of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries will work here, we recommend using no more than 2 cups of strawberries, which tend to be watery. If your berries aren’t sweet enough, you can add an extra 1/4 cup of sugar to the filling in step 3.
Instructions
- For the crust and streusel: Grease 9-inch pie plate. Process flour, graham crackers, and salt in food processor until finely ground. Add butter, cream cheese, and vanilla and pulse until dough forms. Remove 2 cups dough from food processor (leaving remaining dough in bowl of food processor) and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Flatten dough into 6-inch disk and transfer to prepared pie plate. Press dough evenly into pie plate and flute edges. Cover dough with plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
- Add oats and brown sugar to food processor with remaining dough and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to bowl and use fingers to pinch topping into peanut-sized clumps; cover and refrigerate streusel.
- For the filling: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook 2 cups berries in saucepan over medium-high heat until juicy, about 3 minutes. Stir in sugar and lemon zest and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then gently toss cooked berry mixture, remaining berries, and tapioca in large bowl until combined.
- Transfer berry mixture to chilled crust. Scatter oat mixture evenly over pie. Bake pie on rimmed baking sheet until fruit is bubbling around edges and streusel is browned and crisp, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool on rack 30 minutes, then refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve.
Time
1½ hours, plus 30 minutes cooling and 3 hours chillingYield
Serves 8 to 10Ingredients
Crust and Streusel
Filling
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Crust and Streusel
Filling
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Crust and Streusel
Filling
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Fresh berries guarantee a pie with great flavor, but their juices can make for a sodden crust and streusel. We wanted a pie that avoided this pitfall and featured intense berry flavor, that would slice neatly and that would have a crisp crust and crunchy streusel topping. A hybrid dough made by replacing some of the flour in our No-Fear Pie Crust recipe with graham cracker crumbs resulted in rich graham flavor and sufficient sturdiness. For intense berry flavor without too much liquid, we cooked a portion of the berries with sugar and lemon zest in a saucepan until syrupy. (A spatula dragged through the mixture should leave a trail when it’s thick enough.) To further tighten the filling, we tossed the cooked berry mixture with the remaining fresh berries and tapioca, which tasters appreciated for its ability to thicken without calling attention to itself. The raw pie dough formed the base of the streusel topping—simply fortifying the dough with oats for texture and brown sugar for sweetness before sprinkling the streusel on top made it an ideal component of our pie.
Before You Begin
While any combination of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries will work here, we recommend using no more than 2 cups of strawberries, which tend to be watery. If your berries aren’t sweet enough, you can add an extra 1/4 cup of sugar to the filling in step 3.
Instructions
- For the crust and streusel: Grease 9-inch pie plate. Process flour, graham crackers, and salt in food processor until finely ground. Add butter, cream cheese, and vanilla and pulse until dough forms. Remove 2 cups dough from food processor (leaving remaining dough in bowl of food processor) and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Flatten dough into 6-inch disk and transfer to prepared pie plate. Press dough evenly into pie plate and flute edges. Cover dough with plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
- Add oats and brown sugar to food processor with remaining dough and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to bowl and use fingers to pinch topping into peanut-sized clumps; cover and refrigerate streusel.
- For the filling: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook 2 cups berries in saucepan over medium-high heat until juicy, about 3 minutes. Stir in sugar and lemon zest and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then gently toss cooked berry mixture, remaining berries, and tapioca in large bowl until combined.
- Transfer berry mixture to chilled crust. Scatter oat mixture evenly over pie. Bake pie on rimmed baking sheet until fruit is bubbling around edges and streusel is browned and crisp, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool on rack 30 minutes, then refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve.
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