United States of American Pie

Firstly Happy 4th of July to all my American readers! Ok, I know I already have done a 4th of July post, but there were just so many recipes I wanted to try out and I just love Americana! One post just wasn’t enough. So I’m just going to go ahead and do another…

I believe it was Men In Black III that the delectable Josh Brolin playing a young Agent K, said “Pie don’t work unless you let it”, and when you do let it, boy does it work. I often find that pie is the solution to most things, mathematical or otherwise. And there are few countries that do pie better than America. They gave the world pie a’ la mode, and specifically Mel’s Diner on Sunset gave me the best cherry pie at 3 am in the morning when I was incredibly jet lagged. It was quite possibly the best pie I have ever had.

I came across this pie design on pintrest and by golly as soon as I saw it I knew I had to make it. It’s so beautiful and looking at it just makes my mouth water, and once you make it I guarantee your home will smell like you’ve died and gone to pie heaven.

Pie don’t work unless you let it

It’s just perfect for any 4th of July party! To make it party worthy, because lets face it you want to be out having fun not getting bits of shortcrust pastry between your fingers, I recommend you just use store bought shortcrust pie crust (that was a mouthful). So lets just get straight to it.

Prep time 25 minutes
Cooking time is approximately 40-45 minutes
Makes 1 delicious 9 inch pie

INGREDIENTS

1 roll store-bought pie crusts
1/2cup milk, for brushing
500g strawberries
150g blueberries
150 g confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs cornflour
Salt
Lemon juice
Vanilla extract

METHOD

Begin by preheating the oven to 350F/180°c, gas mark 4, and grease you pie dish with some butter.
1. Lay your pie crust into your pie dish using your fingers to gently push down and flatten the bottom, then use a fork to make around 15 small holes in the bottom of the crust. This allows heat to escape and prevent bubbling. Grease the inside of the crust with some butter and set aside.
2. Quarter your strawberries and combine them with the 100g of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons of cornflour, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Mix gently with a spoon until the strawberries are fully coated and the mixture is combined.
3. In a separate bowl combine your blueberries with 50g of sugar, 3/4 of a teaspoon of lemon juice, 2 teaspoons of cornflour, and a pinch of salt, again mix until the berries are well coated with the mixture.
4. To sperate your fruit, fold a piece of aluminium foil into a right angle divider and put it in one corner of the pie crust. Fill the small corner with the blubbery mixture and the rest of the pie with your strawberry mixture.
5. With your spare pie crust roll out horizontal strips and cut out star placing them in the shape of the American flag. Brush the entire pie with milk.
6. Place in the oven and bake for 40-45minutes. Once browned remove the pie and and leave to cool completely.

Serve by itself or with ice cream and P-A-R-T-WHY?! Because it’s the 4th of July!

If you tried this out last minute please let me know! I would love to see your renditions of them, and any party pictures you might want to share! Tag me on instagram @cakesthebiscuit and hashtag #cakesthebiscuit or follow and tweet me @cakes_biscuit