For a girlfriend’s birthday dinner party last weekend, I was given a gentle hint to bring a dessert. The hint included the mini cheesecakes I made a few weeks ago, but I decided on something a little lighter: triple berry pie.

Triple Berry Pie

I’ve made this pie a few times before and always get rave reviews.  The first couple times were very frustrating for me though, as I was trying to be creative and do the lattice crust you see above.  However, I probably should have kept it simple on my very first pie!  Though mine are store-bought, I still get fed up with the crust every time I do this.  The recipe link below gives some pretty straightforward instructions if you want to try and “pretty up” your pie as well, but one tip I can offer is to keep the top crust well chilled (but not frozen) until you’re ready to give it a go.  Room temperature dough stretches and breaks much too easily to keep things neat.

This was the first time I actually made the pie with fresh berries.  I usually go for the frozen “berry medley” at my grocery store because it’s cheaper and of comparable quality.  However, I would highly highly recommend using the fresh stuff (so you should probably attempt this in the summer months when fresh is cheaper also!).  Frozen berries aren’t bad, but they are a little bit mushier and result in a lot more liquid in the pie, which can cause some major spillage in your oven (trust me).

One of my friends thought it tasted like “peanut butter and jelly pie”–although she had had a drink or two by then   However, I thought it was a cool concept and may try making my own crust with some peanut butter added to the dough.  Could be delicious!

Triple Berry Pie

from the Kraft Foods Kitchens

Prep Time:  20 min
Total Time:  1 hr 10 min
Makes:  8 servings

Ingredients

2 cups halved strawberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup raspberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup MINUTE Tapioca
1 pkg. (15 oz.) ready-to-use refrigerated pie crusts (2 crusts)
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

Directions
Mix berries, sugar and tapioca in large bowl. Let stand 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare pie crust as directed on package for 2-crust pie, using 9-inch pie plate. Fill with fruit mixture. Dot with butter. Cover with second pie crust. Seal and flute edge. Cut several slits in top crust to permit steam to escape.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until juices form bubbles that burst slowly. Cool.