Cherry Apricot Slab Pie
This easy cherry apricot slab pie recipe is what summer dreams are made of! Ripe stone fruit is baked into a flaky homemade pie crust, all assembled on a large rimmed baking sheet that's perfect to feed a crowd.
Ingredients
Pie Crust
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter cut into pieces and frozen
- 1/3 cup lard or shortening cut into pieces and frozen
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2-2/3 cup Ice water
Apricot Cherry Filling
Ingredients:
- 2 cups fresh apricots pitted and chopped
- 2 cups Cherries pitted and quartered
- 3/4 - 1 cup cane sugar
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp cream beaten
Instructions
PIe Crust:
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Cut the butter and lard into pieces and place in the freezer.
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In the bowl of a food processor add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Pulse a few times to combine.
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Add the pieces of butter and shortening. Pulse several times until the mixture is the size of small peas.
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In a measuring cup add the egg yolk and lemon juice. Mix together. Add water until the liquid comes to the 2/3 cup measure. Mix water in with the egg yolk lemon juice mixture. Pour the water over the flour mixture. Pulse food processor just until the dough begins to hold together. Do not over process or you will have a tough pie crust.
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Divide the dough into two balls. Flatten each ball into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate until cold. Can be refrigerated for 1 day or frozen for 2 weeks. Makes two (9-inch) pie crusts or 1 double.
Apricot Cherry filling:
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Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine apricots, cherries, cane sugar, and cornstarch. Stir to combine. Set aside.
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Roll out 1/2 of the pie dough into a large rectangle to fit a 9 x 13-inch baking sheet. Leave enough dough to have a bit of an overhang.
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Spoon the mixture evenly into the dough lined baking sheet.
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Dot with butter.
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Use the remaining pie dough to cover the pie in a lattice, or other form of decoration.
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Brush with beaten egg.
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Lightly cover pie loosely with foil. Place in preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the juices are bubbling and crust is golden.
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Remove from oven and allow to cool 10-15 minutes before slicing. The pie will slice better if cooled completely. But who can wait for that? Hot pie always tastes better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Recipe Notes
Tips and advice:
TIP #1: If you use a lot of cherries, purchase a cherry pitter. It just makes life a bit more pleasant.
TIP #2: Keep the pie crust dough chilled and cold at all times! If the dough begins to warm up and is difficult to handle, return to refrigerator until cold.
TIP #3: If you want to make a fancy pie top, have additional pie crust on hand. Cut strips and shapes. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate until completely chilled.
TIP #4: Always place a pie on a parchment lined baking sheet 12 x 16-inches. The chances of the pie juices bubbling out of the pie is great. This will collect all escaping fluids onto the parchment paper and not the bottom of the oven. It, also, makes clean up a breeze.
TIP #5: After top pie crust has been placed on top of the fruit, chill pie for 10-15 minutes. This will help keep the shape of cutouts or braiding.
TIP #6: Find a design of lattice work or pie crust cutouts that you love. Keep a picture of that design close by as you create your top crust. Calculate how many strips or cutouts you need and prep them before starting to design.
TIP #7: Keep the pie crust chilled at all times. It just makes life a little easier.
TIP #8: For perfect slicing cool pie completely. Refrigerate the pie overnight for even more perfect slicing.
The apricot and cherry pie will keep well for up to 5 days in the fridge.
To freeze: You can choose to freeze before or after baking. After assembling, cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and a double layer of foil. If baked, let the pie cool completely before wrapping. Freeze for up to 3 months.Let unbaked pie thaw in the fridge overnight, and bake per recipe instructions. Previously baked pie should be baked while frozen, and will need to bake for about 60 minutes.