The Best Fruit Of The Forest Pie Recipe

Whipped cream topped slice of berry pi on a white plate.

4.70 from 33 votes. Tap stars to vote

Why choose one fruit for your pie when you can fill it to the brim with all the luscious fruits of the season? Have a big slice of delicious Fruit of the Forest Pie, a berry and fruit pie sweetened with maple syrup!

**RECIPE UPDATED 9/13/24

Prep Time1 10

Cook Time35

Chilling/Cooling2 10

Total Time3 55

Course: Breakfast, Fruit Dessert, Pies/Tarts

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 365kcal

Author: Nancy Mock

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 (called "cornflour" in the UK)
¼ cup 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
Granulated or decorating sugar to sprinkle

US Customary - Metric

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.
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 ⅓ cup of granulated sugar over the fruit and gently stir the sugar and berries together.

Add the syrup and thickeners:

Whisk together the maple syrup, vanilla extract, cornstarch, tapioca flour, and salt in a small bowl—whisk until the dry ingredients are completely dissolved.
Pour the syrup mixture over the fruit, and gently stir so all of the fruit is coated.
Cover the bowl and allow the fruit mixture to rest for about 30 minutes. This allows the thickeners to begin working. Stir it once or twice during this time.

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. If you want, go ahead a make a few decorative cutouts from the center. Cover the dough with 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; spread the filling out and smooth the top.
Take out the other circle of dough. Drape it over your rolling pin to move 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 and crimp the edge firmly down. Refrigerate the pie for 10 minutes.

Bake:

If desired, 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 cutouts to the top. If you didn't cut out shapes from the top crust, add a few slashes so steam can vent during baking. Brush the top crust with the egg wash, then sprinkle a little granulated or decorating 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 30-35 minutes, until the top crust is deeply browned.
Drape a sheet of aluminum foil over the top (to prevent further browning) and bake the pie for about 15 minutes more, until you see the filling bubbling through the holes in the crust. Move the pie to a cooling rack.
Here's the hard part: let the pie COOL COMPLETELY—several hours or overnight! This is crucial for the juicy fruit filling to set. If you cut into the pie while it's hot, the filling will run out all over the place. Give it several 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

RECIPE UPDATED 9/13/24
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 to 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 with fresh strawberries and raspberries.
I learned the technique for the filling from the Magpie Cookbook by Holly Ricciardi.

Nutrition