Friday Pieday // Mixed Berry Cream with a Shortbread Crust

After last weeks somewhat spur of the moment idea to start a friday tradition of making a pie with Josie, I was a little bit taken back by just how much fun she (and I) had. It was one of the things she just kept talking about over the weekend and several friends and family asked her about it too so I ended up reserving a few more pie cookbooks at the library and we picked them up mid-week.

The Southern Pie Book was one of the ones on the list and late Wednesday night Josie sat with me on the couch pouring over the gorgeous photos of all the amazing pies. I'd been eyeing some of the more fallish options for this week but the moment she laid eyes on this berries and cream delight her mind was made up. She HAD to have this pie and so it was settled - a final hurrah to the end of summer and perfect for this nice string of sunshine we are having still here in Seattle. We collected our ingredients on thursday and this morning she was buzzing around the kitchen, it's friday pieday!!

Zeb was really eager to get in on the action this week too and Josie was very sweet to let him help us. 

I just love it when I can find something that really make their hearts sing - making pies and serving them to the family is pretty much one of Josie's love languages, I can tell. Daddy was proudly exclaiming to the boys that their sister might be a famous pie maker someday and they are so lucky to be experiencing her very first creations.

We all decided it was an incredible pie, light and creamy with just the perfect hint of orange and the yummiest shortbread crust - this one is a winner so make sure to bookmark it for next summer!

I wonder what me and my famous pie maker will whip up next week? Happy Friday!!

Mixed Berry Cream Pie from The Southern Pie Book

Shortbread Crust:

1 (7.25-oz.) package of shortbread cookies
2 Tbsp. Sugar
1/4 cup of melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Process the cookies in a food processor for 30 seconds, add sugar and pulse again. With the processor running, pour the butter through food chute and process until blended.

Press the crumbs into a 9-inch pie plate and bake for 10 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool for about 30 minutes while preparing the filling.

Filling:

2 cups fresh strawberries
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 (6 oz.) package of fresh raspberries
2 Tbsp. Sugar
2 Tbsp. orange liqueur such as Grand Mariner
1 tsp. orange zest
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cups powdered sugar
8 oz. container of marscapone cheese
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine 1 cup of strawberries, 3/4 cup blueberries and half of the raspberries in a bowl, mashing with a potato masher until chunky. Stir in the sugar, liqueur and zest and cover and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain well reserving the liquid, cover and chill the remaining berries.

Beat the cream, powdered sugar, marscapone cheese and vanilla at high speed with an electric mixture until stiff peaks form. Spoon half of the cream mixture into the prepared crust. Top with drained mashed berries and then the remaining half of the cream. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours until firm

Uncover and top with the reserved berries and drizzle with the reserved liquid just before serving.