Peach Apricot Cherry Pie

With the bounty of luscious summer fruits, I couldn't resist the lure of making pie. I am not a great pie maker by any means (it's the crust that defeats me every time), but I'm determined to improve my skills with practice, practice, practice.

As we hosted a barbeque this weekend, I wanted to put my pie-making skills to the test. I made a blueberry pie (which I'll post on Tuesday) and this lovely pie, which highlights three delicious summer fruits: peaches, apricots, and cherries.

Peach, Apricot and Cherry Pie
adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

Pie Dough
2 1/2 C AP flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp sugar
8 oz unsalted butter
6-8 tbsp ice water

Filling
1 lb fresh peaches (pitted, peeled and sliced into 1/2 incl slices)
1 lb fresh apricots (pitted, sliced into quarters)
1 lb fresh cherries (pitted, kept whole)
1/2 C sugar
6 tbsn quick tapioca (finely processed in a coffee grinder)
1/4 tsp kosher salt
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 lg egg yolk
1 tbsp heavy cream
sanding sugar for dusting

For the Dough
- Combine dry ingredients.
- Cut in butter.
- Add water until the dough just holds together. Divide in half, form into disks, and wrap in plastic.
- Refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.

For the filling
- In a large bowl toss together the peaches, apricots, and cherries.
- Add sugar, tapioca, salt and lemon juice & zest and toss to combine

To assemble and bake
- preheat oven to 425 degrees (400 degrees for convection)
- roll out 1 pie dough disk for bottom crust and fit it into pie pan. put prepared pie shell into frig, while preparing lattice top
- roll out remaining pie dough disk in a 10x10 square. Cut 3/4 inch strips using a ruler and pastry cutter (pizza cutter or knife works just as well)
- pull out pie shell from frig, and
- pour filling into crust and dot with butter
- brush bottom rim w. water. cover with dough strips to create lattice pattern, gently sealing top and bottom crust
- mix egg yolk and cream together and brush top. sprinkle w, sanding sugar
- put pie on a baking sheet and place on lowest rack in oven.
- after 20 minutes, reduce oven temp to 350 degrees (325 for convection) and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling and thickened.