Cherry Berry Red Wine Pie! (vegan, dairy-free)

Hello friends!

How’s everyone doing out there? The world can be quite the place, can’t it? I like to think at least that times like these really make us appreciate times that…are not like this. You know?

Sometimes the smallest things can help if you’re in a mood, a funk, feeling meh. And sometimes, that small thing is a homemade pie.

The magic of Pie

Of course, I know pie won’t make any problems or struggles go away. But it certainly can’t hurt the situation, right? To me, pie is comforting. There’s something magical about pie. It is unlike any other dessert. And can be so versatile! Maybe you’re not a sweets person and you like savory pies. Or you favor cream pies or fruit pies. Chocolate pies. Key lime pies. Pie……

*smile*

It’s something just so happy to think about and make! So today, we’re making a cherry berry pie with a boozy twist.

The pie – the berries

In this pie, I used frozen cherries and frozen mixed berries – strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries. Keep everything frozen until you’re going to use it in the pie (in other words, don’t thaw first). You can also use fresh berries, or any similar berries, fresh or frozen, depending on what you can find.

Thick, jammy, boozy, sweet

We’re taking it up a notch with the addition of RED WINE! Because adding red wine can only make it better. And feels necessary. The fruit mixed with sugar, arrowroot flour, flour, lemon zest, cinnamon, vanilla and red wine bakes up into a thick, jammy, boozy, sweet cherry berry filling. Finger-licking good.. you know, if you eat it with your hands if any of it gets on your fingers.

Vegan & Dairy-free

BONUS! This pie is vegan-friendly and free of dairy! What does that mean? What that means is – if you CAN eat dairy/animal products, you can eat this pie. If you CANNOT eat dairy/animal products, you can still eat this pie. ALL OF YOU CAN EAT THIS PIE!

I have not tested a gluten-free version, but I have made gluten-free pie crust in the past so I will give that a try soon. If you’re gluten-free, sub in your fav gluten-free crust and skip the flour in the filling.

The, um, cherry on top

The proverbial cherry-on-top is to serve the pie with a scoop of your favorite ice cream (dairy or dairy-free). And if you have maraschino cherries, topping your ice cream with one of those would be DIVINE! For an actual cherry on top.

Ready to bake

I surely I am! It’s pie time!

Cherry Berry Red Wine Pie

Makes 1 9-inch pie, 8-10 servings

Tag your baking pics with @fetchinggoodies on Instagram – I love to see, and I’ll share ’em!

Ingredients

CRUST
17 tablespoons (1 cup + 1 Tablespoon) shortening or coconut oil – if you don’t need the pie to be vegan, you can use 1/2 butter 1/2 shortening
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
4-8 Tablespoons cold water

FILLING
8 cups mixed berries/cherries, fresh or frozen. Cut the cherries in half
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup arrowroot flour or cornstarch
1/2 cup red wine, your favorite kind 🙂
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
zest from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

First, let’s make the crust:
1) Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.

2) Add in shortening and cut it in using two knives or a pastry blender. Keep cutting the shortening in and mixing until you have small crumbs– pea-sized or smaller.

3) Add in cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Lightly knead the dough with your hands. Keep adding water until the dough holds together in a ball. It’s too dry if the dough is cracking, but too wet if the dough is sticky.

4) Split the dough in half. Wrap both halves in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about in hour (or longer, up to two days). If you refrigerate longer than 1 hour, just leave the dough out on the counter for a little longer before trying to roll it out. While the dough chills, prepare your berry filling.

The berry filling:
1) Measure the red wine into a large measure cup. Add the sugar and arrowroot flour. Whisk all together, and set aside.

2) In a large bowl, add your frozen berries, flour, cinnamon, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Stir it all together.

3) Give the red wine mixture one more good whisk and then pour it over the berry mixture. Use a spatula to get all the red wine out of the measuring cup (no drop left behind!) Mix all together, and set that aside.

Assembling the pie:
1) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2) While the oven is heating, we’ll assemble the pie. Have your pie plate handy. Take 1 ball of dough out of the refrigerator. Allow it to sit out for about 20-30 minutes. Roll it out on a floured surface into a roughly-sized-and-shaped circle. You want it to be a little bigger than the size of your pie plate.

3) To put the crust into the pie plate, roll the pie crust onto the rolling pin, and slide it onto the pie plate, unrolling gently. Lightly press the dough to take shape of the plate. If you have any large amounts of crust hanging over the edges, gently trim the extra.

4) Give the berry filling another good stir, then fill the pie crust with the filling and even it out with a spatula.

5) Take out your remaining pie crust dough from the fridge. This is your top crust. Roll it out the same way you rolled out the bottom crust.

If you want a solid top crust, you can place it on top of the pie by rolling the dough up onto the rolling pin, and unrolling on top of the pie.

If you want to do a lattice top, like in these pictures, use a knife to gently cut even strips of pie dough– about 1/2-3/4 an inch wide.

For Lattice: Think about your circular pie as having 4 sides. I’m going to call each strip of pie dough by a number.

Lay strip 1 of dough along the left, outermost edge of the pie.
Lay strip 2 perpendicular to strip 1– along the top outermost edge. The end of strip 2 should be laying over the end of strip 1.
Take strip 3 and lay it parallel to strip 1, leaving a little bit of space so that the berry mixture shows through. The end of strip 3 should be laying on top of and perpendicular to strip 2.
Before laying strip 4, peel back strip 1 by taking the loose end and folding it back on top of itself. Lay strip 4 parallel to strip 2, again leaving space for berries to show. Strip 4 should be underneath strip 1 (that’s why you peeled it back) and on top of strip 3. Fold strip 1 back down so that it’s on top of strip 4.
Now, fold back strip 2, from the loose end, so that it’s folded on top of itself. Lay strip 5, parallel to strips 1 & 3, so that it’s under strip 2 (that’s why you folded it back) and on top of strip 4. Fold strip 2 back down so that it’s on top of strip 5.
Continue this under-over process until you’ve covered the pie. It sounds much more complicated than it actually is, I promise 🙂

6) Crimp the edges with your fingers. I’m using a pie crust that already has an edge shape, so I followed the lines of the pie plate.

7) Cover the pie with aluminum foil. Place it on a large baking sheet to catch any drips. I like to line the baking sheet with foil too – for easy clean up.

8) Bake in your 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil, and bake another 20-30 minutes, or until crust is brown and berries are juicy.

9) Cool the pie on a cooling rack or hot-pad.

10) After about 30 minutes, feel free to serve the pie warm! Mmmmmm warm….you know fresh from the oven is my favorite. Or, allow it to cool completely (still wonderful). If you aren’t serving it right away, cover it with foil or plastic wrap and place it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. You can warm it up in the oven or microwave, or enjoy as-is!

That fresh-baked-pie smell

OMG. If you aren’t salivating yet, you will once this starts baking and fills your home with the perfectly sweet berry pie smell..