This patriotic American Flag Berry Pie is a beauty to bring to any 4th of July party or summer get-together. It is decorated with stars and stripes made from homemade flaky pie crust and filled with a medley of juicy berries.
Prepare Homemade Flaky Pie Crust according to the recipe. Let it rest for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator before rolling it out. I prefer to make the dough a day in advance to give it enough time to rest and chill. Also, the colder the dough, the easier it is to work with.
Lightly flour your work surface. Take one chilled dough disc and roll it out with a rolling pin. Use light pressure and turn the dough after every few rolls until you have about a 12-inch circle. Fold dough in half (it's easier to transfer it into the pie dish that way) and carefully place it in a 9-inch pie dish and unfold. Make sure you smooth it along the edge and tuck it in nicely. Put back in the refrigerator.
Take the other disc of chilled pie dough and roll it out like the first one. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife, and cut six 1-inch strips and 12 small stars with a star cookie cutter. Put them back in the refrigerator.
Pie Filling:
Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C.
Wash all the berries. Then cut the strawberries into ½-inch chunks and place them in a big mixing bowl with the raspberries.
In a smaller bowl, add the blueberries and the blackberries.
Add the sugar, arrowroot powder (or cornstarch), and flour into another small bowl.
Scrape out the vanilla seeds from one vanilla bean “pod” by laying it flat on a cutting board and slicing it down the middle, lengthwise, midway through the pod. Then open it up slightly and run a dull knife or a small spoon down the length of the pod to collect all the seeds and add them to the sugar mixture. Mix well.
Add 1/4 of the sugar vanilla mixture to the blueberries/blackberries with 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and combine.
Pour the remaining 3/4 of the sugar mixture to the strawberries/raspberries with 1 tsp of vanilla extract and mix it up.
Take aluminum foil and fold it a few times to create a strip; create a 90° angle with it and place it in the upper left-hand corner of the pie. Then scoop the blueberry/blackberry filling into it. The foil will keep the filling nicely in place.
Add the strawberry/raspberry filling to the remaining 3/4 of the pie. If there is any extra liquid from the berries, try not to add that to the pie, or you will end up with a soggy mess where the filling doesn't set correctly.
Remove the foil wedge.
Take the dough stars and stripes out of the refrigerator. To create an American flag design, place the strips parallel to each other, onto the red (strawberry/raspberry) and the stars on the blue filling (blueberry/blackberry). Cut any excess dough from the strips and pinch them nicely to the edge of the crust.
With a food brush, brush the stars and stripes with egg wash (crack an egg into a small bowl and mix it up) and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
Baking:
Put the pie dish on a large baking sheet and place it in the oven—Bake for 20 minutes at 400°F or 200°C. After 20 minutes, carefully take the pie out of the oven. Place a pie crust shield along the edge of the pie. If you don't have a pie crust shield, use aluminum foil, just cut the center out to cover the edge of the crust. That prevents the crust from browning too quickly.
Turn the oven down to 350°F or 180°C and place the pie dish back inside. Bake for another 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown and the filling inside is bubbling. It all depends on how strong your oven bakes. Keep a close eye on your pie.
Let the pie cool for at least 3 hours before you cut into it. It will allow the filling to thicken. Serve with some ice cream or as is.
Notes
Cover leftovers tightly and place them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.