Summer Fruit & Riesling Pie

Now you can have your wine and eat it too with this Summer Fruit Pie with Riesling in the filling!

 

I liked that the pie was not overly sweet and the fruit still maintained most of its' shape without breaking down into a pile of mush. You could definitely see the different combinations of fruit that was used in the filling.

 

The Riesling added a nice fruity note. Be sure to use a Riesling that you would enjoy drinking. I used a J. Lohr Riesling from Paso Robles.

 

The great thing about pie is how adaptable it is! Use different combination of fruit or the thickening agent of your choice. I used flour because that's what I had on hand, but some people prefer cornstarch or tapioca starch. Also, if you're a pie baker, you may already have your own preferred baking technique. Some prefer to bake at a high temp for the first 15-20 minutes of baking, then reducing the temperature.

If you're looking for a slightly sophisticated dessert that capitalizes on the freshness of Summer fruit and isn't too complicated to make, this recipe is for you. Use a good quality store bought pie crust for a quick short cut to make the recipe even easier!

No matter how you bake it, pie is always delicious!

 

Summer Fruit & Riesling Pie

Ingredients:

Double crust pie crust (store bought or homemade)
Here is my favorite pie crust recipe
Yvonne really likes this store bought crust

6 1/2 cups assorted fresh fruit (I used sliced strawberries, blueberries, sliced peaches and sliced nectarines)
*I cut the strawberries in half and left the skin on the peaches and nectarines and sliced them into 1/4" thick slices)
1/2 cup sweet Riesling wine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup water
Egg wash: one egg beaten with a little water
Demerara Sugar (sugar in the raw) for sprinkling

Directions:

Place all of the filling ingredients in a medium size heavy bottom saucepan and toss to combine. Cook over low heat until the mixture comes to a simmer stirring often. Simmer and stir until some of the fruit breaks down and the mixture thickens (approx. 5-7 minutes). If you find your mixture is getting too thick, add a little more water.

Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool. To help with the cooling process, stir occasionally to allow steam to escape.

When filling is cool, place a rimmed baking sheet in the oven and preheat oven to 375f

Roll out your crust to approx. 1/8" thick. It should be large enough to fit in the bottom of the pie dish with 1" overhang of crust. Place the bottom crust into the bottom of a glass pie dish (I prefer glass so you can see how done the bottom of the crust it, but metal is fine also).

Scoop the filling into the pie crust lined pie dish. Make sure it is in an even layer.

Roll out the second pie crust to 1/8" thickness. Place the second pie crust on top (you can do a lattice design, cut outs like I did or leave the top crust whole). If you leave the top crust whole, trim the edges then fold under and crimp. Cut a few vent holes in the top with a sharp knife to allow air to escape. If you do a lattice effect you still need to fold the edges of the crust under and crimp. For cut outs, just cut the crust into any shape you want using cookie cutters, then lay on top of the filling making sure you overlap the pieces.


Brush the top crust and edges with the egg wash and sprinkle with demerara sugar.


Place the pie on the preheated cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, loosely tent the top with foil making sure there is space for air to circulate underneath the foil and continue baking for another 15-20 minutes or until the fruit has a slow bubble and the crust is golden brown. If you used a glass pie dish, you can lift the pie high enough to see underneath to check to make sure the bottom of the crust is done too.

Remove from oven and place the pie on a wire cooling rack for several hours to cool before serving.
Serve with whipped cream, ice cream and another glass of wine!


Pie is best eaten same day or next day.

Recipe adapted from Bakeaholic Mama