Very Berry Pie

Ingredients

For the pie crust:
• 1 1/3 cups cold butter
• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup ice-cold water
For the pie filling:
• 2 (16 oz) bags frozen mixed berries (mine had blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries)
• 1 (16 oz) bag frozen cranberries
• 1 1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling on top of the pie
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 egg white

Instructions

1. To make the crust, cut the butter into very small pieces and add to a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Add 4 cups flour to a large bowl. Add in 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Whisk to combine.
3. Add some ice to a bowl and fill with water.
4. Add the butter and mix into the flour mixture with a pastry blender (or a fork) until the butter is uniformly broken up into the dough.
5. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup ice water with a fork, stirring until the dry ingredients begin to turn into a dough. Add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time if needed (I needed about 4 more tablespoons).
6. Line your counter with a piece of plastic wrap. Add the dough to the plastic wrap. Press and shape dough into two equal sized disks. Wrap each individually in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours.
7. When you are ready to make the pie, take one of the dough disks out of the fridge and place on a lightly floured surface (with you remaining 1/4 cup flour). Roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Wrap the dough around the rolling pin and transfer the dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Press the dough into pie plate.
8. To make the filling, add all of the berries, 1 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to a large pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened.
9. Using a slotted spoon, add the cooked berries to the prepared pie pan. Discard any remaining juice. (Because you are making this pie ahead of time and freezing it, you want a little moisture as possible so that it doesn’t get mushy when you go to bake it later.)
10. Roll out the remaining dough disk onto a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness. To make a lattice top crust, use a pastry wheel to cut equally thick strips of dough.
11. Lay about half of your strips across the pie, leaving some space in between them.
12. Weave another strip perpendicularly to the original strip by folding back every other strip. Repeat with the next strip, but with the opposite every other strips folded back.
13. Continue until all strips are on the pie.
14. Trim off any strips hanging over the edge, then fold them under the rim of the pie.
15. Use a fork to press down around the edge of the pie to crimp together.
16. At this stage, you can freeze the pie. To make it easier later, I added foil around the edge of the pie, but you don’t have to do that step yet if you don’t want to. Be sure to completely wrap the pie in plastic wrap before adding to your freezer.
17. The night before you plan to bake the pie, move the pie from your freezer to your fridge to let thaw.
18. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the plastic wrap from the pie.
19. Brush the top of the pie with egg whites and sprinkle with a bit of granulated sugar.
20. If you haven’t yet added foil around the edge, do so now. (This will keep the crust from burning before the rest of the pie is done.)
21. Add the pie to your oven and bake for 25 minutes.
22. After 25 minutes, remove the foil from the edges.
23. Bake for another 15 minutes until the lattice top begins to brown.
24. Remove from the oven and add to a rack to completely cool. Wait until completely cooled before cutting.