Happy July!!! What a difference a year makes, right?!! With the 4th only a few days away, I thought I’d break with tradition and share this Famous Fridays post a day early to give you a little more prep time because once you find out about this seriously amazing Berry Dream Pie, I have a strong feeling you’re going to want to include it in your holiday celebrations! So let’s hear it for Famous Thursdays…doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it?

Be that as it may, I want you to know everything about this super delicious pie and the wonderful book it comes from, Pie for Everyone: Recipes and Stories from Petee’s Pie, New York’s Best Pie Shop, by Petra Paredez. But before we get to talking about this terrific cookbook, if that book title is true and Petee’s Pie’s is NY’s best pie shop, how is it that I have never heard of it before?!! Especially since it’s been around since 2015!! This is a situation I must remedy asap!!! But until I crawl out from that rock I’ve obviously been living under and actually make it to the bakery, let me tell you what a joy it has been to get my hands on this gorgeous cookbook! Guys, it’s just filled with all sorts of recipes for fruit, custard, chess, chilled and savory pies, like Wild Blueberry, Pistachio Cloud. Caramel Custard, Salty Chocolate Chess, Brown Butter-Honey Pecan, Tomato Ricotta and so much more. If there’s a pie out there, it’s in here!

I had a really tough time choosing which one to feature today, but in the end, I went with this Berry Dream Pie both because Petra (the happy pie baker and author) says it’s probably her all-time favorite and since berries are so seasonally perfect right now. That said, this pie is a labor of love. It is honestly one of the best pies I have ever made but there are a bunch of different components, none of which are difficult but you do need to plan ahead.

First up, an all-butter pie crust that gets blind-baked, aka pre-baked, so that it’s nice and crisp and golden brown. No worries about any cracks—they’ll be covered with lots of loveliness. I’d make this on day one and store it in the fridge.

The next make ahead is a divinely delicious and mouth-puckering homemade lemon curd that makes enough for serious leftovers, hooray!! (perfect for topping yogurt and ice cream with!) and you can even make this 4-5 days ahead if you like.

On the day of the bake you put together a simple fresh berry glaze

And whip up a berry mascarpone mixture that incorporates a little of that glaze too, giving it a delicate pink hue

And then the layering magic begins.

First you spread the mascarpone mixture all over the baked crust

Topping it with a layer of lemon curd

Then all the fresh berries

And finally the berry glaze!

So pretty!

And so much depth of flavor, with each component, adding to, but never overpowering the other.

Wish I could show you a cut slice but there was a little camera issue—just take my word that this is absolutely divine. In every bite you get flaky pastry, sweet creamy mascarpone, tart, sunny lemon curd, fresh berries and a sweet berry glaze. It’s pretty much summertime perfection!!

Truly a dream of a pie and I urge you not to be overwhelmed by the long ingredient list and many steps and make it, because I promise that you and everyone who tastes it, is gonna crazy love it!!

All right my friends, if baking pies is something you 😍😍 you should definitely check out Pie for Everyone—I know it’s a book you’ll cherish. Meanwhile, it’s time to close up shop here for the holiday weekend—hope you’ve got some wonderful plans on. Have a terrific, safe and delicious 4th with your family and friends (so happy to be able to say that again!!) and I’ll be back next week with more summer goodies and gab!!!xoxoxo

Pie For Everyone’s Berry Dream Pie-Famous Fridays

Makes one 9-inch pie

You will need a blender or food processor.

Prep Time for crust: 10 minutes, plus several hours of chilling and ideally, overnight. Assembly: 15 minutes; Bake Time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients

For the crust

1 ½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (½ cup) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and chilled
⅓ cup cold water
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Ice Cubes

For the Lemon Curd

1 ¼ cups sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
3 large egg yolks
1 large egg
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 8-10 lemons)
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

For the Raspberry Glaze

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
⅓ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
½ pound raspberries
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons of warm berry glaze

For the Pie

¾ cup mascarpone, room temperature
¼ cup sweetened condensed milk
Zest of half a lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cups hulled strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and/or blackberrries

The Recipe

1. For the crust: Add the flour, sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to blend. Add in the chilled butter and pulse a few times until the butter has become the size of small peas.

2. Into the ⅓ cup cold water, add the vinegar and stir. Then add enough ice cubes to raise the level to ½ cup. Add 2 tablespoons of the mixture to the flour mixture and pulse a few times to incorporate it. It will look very crumbly. Then add 1 more tablespoon and pulse again a few times. You should see the mixture start to come together in a shaggy way with lots of crumbly bits. If you absolutely think you need to, add one more tablespoon of water. I never need to—it’s better for your dough to be too dry than too wet.

3. Turn the crumbly dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and gather it all into a ball. Make sure to scrape out the bowl of the processor—sometimes some of the wet parts of the dough get a little stuck and form the whole thing into a ball. Then flatten into a disk, wrap well in plastic wrap and chill for several hours and even better, overnight.

4. When you are ready to roll out the dough, flour a board or counter with a little flour and flour your rolling pin too. If the dough is very stiff (mine usually is) let it sit out on the counter for about 20 minutes till it seems pliable. Roll out the dough, rolling from the center out and to a corner, then lifting the dough off the surface of the board and giving it a little ¼ turn and rolling again, repeating the process until you’re rolled the dough out into a circle that’s a couple of inches wider in diameter than the pie plate.

5. Fold the dough in half and transfer to the pie plate, unrolling it and then carefully easing it down onto the bottom and sides—no stretching! Fold the overhang over and crimp/decorate the edges any way you like. The easiest way is to just use the tines of a fork pressed into the dough to create a little pattern.

6. Place the pie plate in the freezer for 30 minutes.

7. Meanwhile preheat your oven according to the recipe. When the 30 minutes are up, line the pie with a piece of aluminum foil and either pie weights or beans. If any of the edges stick out, cut little pieces of foil to fit over them. Bake about 20 minutes and then remove the foil and weights. Return to the oven for about 10-12 minutes more until crust is golden brown and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. You could definitely do this a day ahead and store the crust. well-wrapped in the fridge.

8. To make the Lemon Curd: Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt together well in a medium bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks, egg, and the water. Whisk in the lemon juice and then strain the mixture into a small saucepan.

9. Place the pan over medium heat and use a rubber spoon or spatula to stir the mixture constantly, scraping the sides and bottom, until the mixture starts to thicken, 5-8 minutes. Lower the heat to lowest setting and continue to stir constantly, until all the filling has thickened but is still a pourable consistency, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until completely melted and smooth. You can definitely make this a day ahead, even a few. Store in an airtight container or glass jar in the fridge until ready to use.

10. To make the Berry Glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, sugar and salt and set aside. In a blender or food processor, combine the berries, lemon juice and cornstarch mixture and puree. Transfer the puree to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom and sides to prevent scorching. When the mixture starts to bubble strongly, reduce the heat to low and stir for 5-10 minutes more, until the mixture is thick enough to coat a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and cool slightly at room temperature. Unlike the crust and lemon curd, this glaze needs to be made when you are ready to assemble the pie, but if you’ve done both of those ahead, it won’t seem so much all at once.

11. To make the Pie Filling: In a food processor or blender, combine the mascarpone, sweetened condensed milk, lemon zest and juice and 2 tablespoons of the warm berry glaze. Blend until the mixture is entirely smooth. Pile the mixture into the center of the cooled pie crust, using a rubber spatula to ease the mixture up the sides a little, leaving about ½-inch of the crust exposed on the outer edge. Smooth the filling in the center so it is distributed evenly.

12. Measure out about ¼ of the lemon curd (you can save the rest for other uses—I promise it won’t go to waste!!) and spoon dollops of it all across the berry filling. Very gently spread it into a thin layer so it doesn’t mix into the berry filling but maintains a separate layer. Decorate the pie with the 2 cups of berries and spoon the rest of the berry glaze all across the pie, covering all the layers but leaving the crust edges exposed. Chill the pie for at least 4 hours (and up to 8). Then cut into wedges and serve.

Enjoy!

Note: Crust recipe adapted from Baker’s Royale by Naomi Robinson. Filling adapted from Pie for Everyone by Petra Paradez.