Why choose one fruit for your pie when you can fill it to the brim with all the luscious fruits of the season? Dig into this forest-inspired fruit berry pie loaded with apple, berries, and rhubarb. It is so delicious!
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Make Fruits of the Forest Pie any time of the year, but definitely make it if it's berry season and you can fill it up with berries from local farmers—or even wild berry patches near you!
I heard about this intriguing pie from my friend Sandra. She loves it so much that she makes a trip every year to Gunnison Orchards in Crown Point, New York to pick up a Fruits of the Forest Pie.
This apple orchard makes dozens of pies daily. The orchard folks are so friendly, and they're more than happy to set a Fruits of the Forest Pie aside for you if you're planning to stop by. And that's probably a good idea because it's one of their most popular varieties.
Here's another upstate New York specialty: Syracuse Salt Potatoes!
I researched this pie and the didn't find very many references to it. In some places one can find a frozen Sara Lee pie by this name in stores. The few recipes that I did find varied as to which fruits should be included.
That left me with one choice: create my own!
I was really intrigued by the idea of a pie literally filled with the "fruits of the forest. For one, because of that evocative name. Immediately I imagine a deep, dark forest—like the setting of a Little Red Riding Hood story, complete with a meandering path to Grandma's house.
Perhaps Red was carrying this very pie in her basket when the wolf spied her!
Think of the luscious, wild treats that are waiting out there in the woods and the fields at the woods edge - if you're lucky enough to know where to find them: brambles of berries, crooked trees heavy with fruit, low patches of tiny, wild strawberries.
And don’t forget the maple syrup. In Vermont when the sap starts running in early spring, that's a much-anticipated fruit of the forest.
Why you'll love this recipe
Fruits of the Forest Pie is Sandra's favorite, has quickly become one of my family's favorites, and I think it will be a favorite of yours, too! A Best-Loved Flaky Pie Crust is filled with a mix of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, apples, and rhubarb. Plus a good pour of Vermont maple syrup. It's full of flavor, with a balance of sweet and tart flavors.
This is a lovely pie to make for dessert (or breakfast) at the height of fresh berry season or to make for Thanksgiving or Pi Day using berries and apples from the grocery store.
🔪 How to make a Fruits Of The Forest Pie
Ingredients for Fruits Of The Forest Pie
- The Fruit: Apples, Rhubarb, Blueberries, Strawberries, Raspberries, and Blackberries
- Sugar: To sweeten the pie
- Vermont Maple Syrup: The forest's own natural sweetener
- Vanilla Extract: For more flavor dimension
- Cornstarch: To thicken the filling
- Tapioca Flour: Also a thickener
- Salt: To enhance the flavor
- Best-Loved FLaky Pie Crust Dough: My all-butter pie crust dough recipe
- Egg: with water for the egg wash
- Decorating sugar: For a sparkly crust
Step 1: Prepare the fruit
Peel, core, and dice the apples. Dice the rhubarb. Hull and slice the strawberries. Wash and blot dry the berries.
Then put all of that fruit in a big bowl.
Step 2: Add sweeteners and thickeners
Add sugar to the fruit. Blend together Vermont maple syrup, vanilla, cornstarch, and tapioca flour, then stir this liquid into the fruit. Let the fruit sit for a half hour.
Step 3: Prepare the pie crust
Roll out your chilled Best-Loved Flaky Pie Crust into two circles: fit one of them into the pie plate and have the other ready to top the pie. Hold both of them in the fridge until the fruit is ready.
Step 4: Assemble the pie
Pour the thickened filling into the pie dish lined with dough. Lay the other circle of dough over the top, then tuck and crimp the edges.
Add decorative dough cutouts and slashes.
Step 5: Bake it!
Brush the top crust with egg wash and sprinkle it with sugar. Bake the pie for about 35 minutes.
Step 6: Let it cool, then enjoy
I know it's tough, but don't cut into that pie until it's completely cool! This will help your filling stay in the crust and not run out all over the pie plate. Once it's cool, slice and enjoy.
Tips:
- The berry amounts are listed in ounces as well as in cups. If you're buying berries by the pint, keep in mind that one pint is roughly 11-12 ounces.
- When not in season nor available from local growers, most of these fruits are available year-round in grocery stores. Rhubarb may perhaps be a little harder to track down, but you may be able to find it frozen. If you're growing rhubarb, it's a great idea to freeze some stalks to have on hand later!
- I like using Vermont Grade A Dark or Very Dark maple syrup in this pie: it's darker with a stronger flavor. However, any grade of pure maple syrup will work in this pie—just make sure it's pure maple and not that awful maple-flavored corn syrup.
FAQs
Frozen fruits, when cooked, tend to release a lot of water, and this can mean a runnier pie filling. Raspberries and strawberries are especially prone to this. Frozen blueberries and blackberries should be alright to substitute, but try to stick to fresh strawberries and raspberries. Since fresh rhubarb has a limited season, frozen can be used if you let it thaw and drain away the excess moisture before chopping it.
Store-bought pie crust dough can be substituted, but the flavor and flakiness of the All-Butter Pie Crust Dough will be superior, and a delicious accompaniment to the fruit. Give the All-Butter Pie Crust Dough a try—it can be made ahead of time and stored for 3 days in the fridge or longer in the freezer.
In the U.S. "cornstarch" is a fine, white powder that feels silky to the touch. It's used to thicken sauces and pie fillings. In the UK it's called "cornflour", so if you can't find cornstarch you can check for packages of cornflour instead. **Do not use corn meal however, this is much more coarse and not at all the same as cornstarch!
Blackberries tend to be much larger (1-2 inches) than black raspberries (about ½-inch to ¾-inch.) Another way to tell them apart is that blackberries are shiny and have a white plug in the center where they came off the stem. Black raspberries have a fuzzy appearance and are hollow in the center. The flavors also differ, with black raspberries having a very sweet, jammy, sun-kissed sweetness. Blackberries have more of a floral flavor as well as sweetness.
The Best Fruits of the Forest Pie recipe is below! Here are a few other desserts for fruit lovers:
💬 How do you like this fruit-filled pie? Have you had a Fruits Of the Forest Pie before? Tell me in the comments below!
📖 Recipe
The Best Fruits Of The Forest Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tart apples, like Granny Smith or McIntosh
- 3 ounces rhubarb stalks (about two 7-inch pieces)
- 7 ounces blueberries (about 1⅔ cups)
- 5 ounces strawberries (about 4-5 large or 7-8 medium strawberries)
- 5 ounces raspberries, red or black - or a mix! (about 1¼ cups)
- 5 ounces blackberries (about 1¼ cups)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup Vermont maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (also called "cornflour" in the UK)
- 1 tablespoon tapioca flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Best-Loved FLaky Pie Crust Recipe, chilled (The full recipe for a double-crust pie. Or you can use store-bought pie crust dough for a double-crust pie.)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- Decorating sugar
Instructions
Prepare the fruit
- Peel and core the apples, then dice the apples into cubes. Add them to a large bowl.
- Slice and dice the rhubarb into cubes as well. Small pieces are important so that the rhubarb will soften during baking. Add the rhubarb to the bowl, along.
- Gently wash the blueberries and blot them dry with a clean dish towel. They don't have to be bone-dry, just remove the excess water. Add them to the bowl.
- Hull the strawberries, then slice them into thin slices. Add them to that bowl!
- Gently wash the raspberries and blackberries, and blot them dry with a clean dish towel. Add them to the bowl. (If the blackberries are really big, cut them into a few smaller pieces.)
- Sprinkle the granulated sugar over the fruit and gently stir the sugar and berries together.
Blend the syrup and thickeners
- Pour the maple syrup and vanilla extract into a small bowl and stir them together.
- Sprinkle the cornstarch, tapioca flour, and salt into the bowl and whisk everything well. Whisk until there are no lumps or dry specks remaining.
- Pour the syrup mixture over the fruit, and gently stir so all of the fruit is coated.
- Allow the fruit mixture to rest, covered, for about 30 minutes. This will give the thickeners time to start working.
Prepare the pie dough
- While the fruit rests, get the bottom crust of the pie ready. Have ready a 9-inch pie dish.
- Dust a work surface lightly with flour. Roll out half of the chilled pie dough into a 12-inch circle.
- Drape it over your rolling pin to move the dough into the pie dish. Press the dough into the pie dish bottom and along the sides. Leave a 1-inch overhang all around, trimming excess away. (You can save the trimmed bits to make decorative cut-outs for the top.) Press a sheet of plastic wrap over the surface of the dough and place the pan in the fridge.
- Take out the other half of the dough. Roll this on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle. This is going into the fridge too, so dust a cutting board or large plate with flour and transfer the dough circle to it. Cover it with a plastic wrap and pop it into the fridge.
Assemble the pie
- Preheat the oven to 400° F. If you're using a metal pie dish leave the oven rack in the center of the oven. For glass or ceramic dishes, move the oven rack down one rung closer to the bottom of the oven. Have ready a baking sheet large enough to hold your pie dish.
- Whisk the egg together with the tablespoon of water in a small dish. Hold this aside.
- Once the fruit has thickened for 30 minutes, give it a stir to distribute the juices and fruit evenly.
- Take out the dough-lined pie dish. Pour the fruit and juices into the pie shell and spread the filling out.
- Take out the other circle of dough. Drape it over your rolling pin to move it over the pie, and lay the dough over the top.
- Trim the edge to be just a little longer than the bottom edge. Roll the top edge underneath the bottom edge all around. (If it's too thick in a spot, trim it back a little.) Go around again crimping the edge firmly down. Refrigerate the pie for 10 minutes.
Bake
- Roll out the dough scraps and use a knife or cookie cutters to cut out a few decorative shapes for the top.
- Take your pie out of the fridge. Add your dough cut-outs to the top along with a couple of decorative slashes so steam can vent during baking. Brush the top crust with the egg wash, then sprinkle a little decorative sugar over the crust.
- Place the pie on the baking sheet and put it in the oven. (The baking sheet will catch any melting butter from the crust and fruit juice from the filling.) Bake the pie for 30 minutes.
- The top should be nicely browned by this point. Drape a sheet of aluminum foil over the top and bake the pie for 5 minutes more - this is to give the filling more time to set, while keeping the crust from over-browning.
- Move the pie to a cooling rack. Here's the hard part: let the pie cool COMPLETELY! This is another step to let the juicy fruit filling set. If you cut into the pie while it's hot, the filling will run out all over the place. Give it a couple of hours, and point a fan at the pie to help it along.
- Once the pie is cool, cut out slices and serve. They're really tasty with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream! Makes about 8 slices. Store leftover pie covered in the fridge.
Notes
- The berry amounts are listed in ounces as well as in cups. If you're buying berries by the pint, keep in mind that one pint is roughly 11-12 ounces.
- Rhubarb may be hard to get out of season, but you may find it frozen at stores
- Frozen fruits, when cooked, release a lot of water, and this can mean a runnier pie filling. Raspberries and strawberries are especially prone to this. Frozen blueberries and blackberries should be alright to substitute, but try to stick to fresh strawberries and raspberries.
- I learned the technique for the filling from the Magpie Cookbook by Holly Ricciardi.
Joan Henarie
Where in San Antonio Texas can I buy frozen Fruits of the forest pies,
Nancy Mock
Hi Joan, I can't really help with this question, but I can say that this Fruits Of The Forest Pie recipe can be frozen to bake up later—and it's way more delicious than a store-bought pie! 🙂
Jill
Way to delicious 😘
Nancy Mock
Yay!! So happy that you like it!
Karen
I need to know who the seller is
Nancy Mock
It is Gunnison Orchards in Crown Point, NY, according to my friend. There's a link above in the post.
Anonymous
Fruit of the Forest Pie from Gunnison Orchard is the BEST!
Nancy Mock
I'll have to get over there soon to try some. I hope my Fruits Of The Forest Pie is just as good as theirs!