CHERRY PRESERVES BERRY PIE

In my pantry, a jar of cherry preserves was growing old. I bought it to make something, and couldn't remember what it was I was supposed to make. So I decided to incorporate the preserves into a berry pie, and it was a huge success.

Though I enjoyed this pie, I do prefer using sugar substitutes, to reduce the sugar load on my overworked pancreas, so it won't be something that I'll deliberately do again. But I will say, the cherry flavor was intensified from the preserves, and it was yummy. (I also had leftover pie dough in the freezer, so this was a fairly quick dessert for me.) I used fresh fruit, but frozen will work. I like using instant tapioca in fruit pies, because it keeps the pie from being runny.

Cherry Preserves Berry Pie
Source: Judy's Kitchen
Rating: 8 out of 10

INGREDIENTS:

your favorite pie crust for a 2-crust pie

4-1/2 cups blueberries, blackberries and sweet bing cherries, mixed

1/4 cup instant tapioca granules (find this by the pudding mixes in your grocery store)

12 oz. jar cherry preserves (you can also use blueberry or seedless raspberry)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground coriander
1 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. butter, divided use
1-1/2 tsp. sugar

Position oven rack to center position of oven. Place a pizza stone, or unglazed ceramic tiles, on top of oven rack. Heat oven to 400F.

Roll out pie crust to fit 9" pie plate; place crust in plate; trim edges; crimp. Roll second sheet out. Cut dough into strips, as desired, for a lattice top. Refrigerate.

For filling, combine fruit, tapioca, preserves, lemon juice, and spices in large bowl; toss to mix ingredients. Let sit for 15 minutes. Fill pie crust with fruit filling, including juices. Dot top with 1 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces. Place dough strips on top of pie in desired lattice design. Melt 2 tsp. butter in small custard cup, covered; brush on top of lattic strips. Sprinkle with sugar. Place sheet of aluminum foil underneath pie plate and pull up to form a slight "bowl" under pie plate -- this is to catch drips, because pie will bubble over. (Alternately, you can bake pie in a deep dish pie plate, only bringing dough 3/4 of the way up to avoid spilling over.) Bake on pizza stone 45-50 minutes, or till filling bubbles and crust is browned. (You may need to cover pie edges during last 15 minutes of baking time to protect from burning.) Cool pie on wire rack for several hours before serving. Yield: 8 servings

Serve pie plain, or with whipped cream or ice cream.