Pay close attention to the ingredients in your crust for optimal results.
The summer fruit season is just around the corner and with it come opportunities for fabulous fresh fruit pies. Sometimes, however, you can’t arrange time in your schedule to bake a pie with fresh fruit before it goes bad. The good news is, you can put your newly picked or bought berries in the freezer in order to make a deliciously scrumptious dessert from them at a later date. And if getting out to pick your own berries just isn’t feasible, you can also bake a pie from the frozen fruit available in the grocery store.
Which pies top the list when it comes to frozen fruit and what tips should you know about? Here’s a look.
When is berry picking season?
In order to do justice to delectable berries, before diving into the frozen goods it only seems fair to note when fresh berries are ready for picking in the summer. Depending on the climate you live in, your berry picking season may be earlier or later in the season. For example, strawberry season in Mississippi is from mid-March through April, but these berries are picked in June if you’re located in New York state.
Here’s a general order to go by:
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Blueberries
- Gooseberries
- Currants
- Haskap
For a comprehensive, state-by-state and multi-country crop harvest calendar, click here.
Related: 3 award-winning blueberry pie recipes to make your mouth cry out for more
The best frozen fruit for pies
Any fruit you would usually use in a pie can be used frozen. Apples, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, you name it, all can be made into a pie from frozen. If you have the fruit in the freezer, generally speaking, you can use it.
Tips: use a full-fat, hydrated crust
You may have heard that frozen fruit generates more juices than fresh fruit but this isn’t really the case. The thing is, frozen fruit deflates and releases the water it contains when it thaws. When this happens, the fruit appears to be more watery, but in actual fact it isn’t. When baking with fresh fruit, the juices are simply released later down the line, in the oven.
Some things to keep in mind: if you put your pie in the oven and some of the fruit isn’t yet fully thawed, it may need a bit more time to cook. This can impact the quality and consistency of your crust. Some people advise avoiding an egg-wash in these circumstances as it can make the crust brown a bit too much.
In addition, if your crust is low-fat, or low in moisture, it may absorb more of the juices than normal, resulting in a soggy bottom. What can you do? By adding more water and butter to the crust, you can help limit this type of outcome. If it’s a pre-made crust, try dotting the bottom with butter, if you think it’s lacking heft. Seek out a decadent dough full of both fat and moisture for the best results.
Pie time can be anytime. Grab a great recipe or improvise and get baking!
photo credits: Jennifer Freeman/Shutterstock.com
