American Flag Fruit Pie

Celebrate RED WHITE and BLUE with this easy to make pie. It has the goodness of fruits on a super flaky base!

We are at the end of June, which means we have reached the half year mark already! It seems like yesterday that the year had just begun and now we are almost halfway through this year. The year so far has been great and I hope the rest is equally great. 


While I have blogged for almost three years now, I have NEVER posted any recipe for July 4th! Either I realize too too late that the day is here or I am just thinking and thinking and July passes me by! This year I planned (yay!) and so I could post this one today. Though I am a little late, this recipe is SUPER EASY and even if you read it on July 3, you can make it on 4th. I promise! 

Last week I was contemplating between fruit salad, cookies, cake and tart. Finally, I decided to make a tart, given that I had everything needed in my refrigerator. As I said, this recipe needs little preparation and can be made quickly. I will not claim that it is healthy as it has puff pastry, but I will definitely say it is super yummy and is great to make kids eat real fruits in the form of a pie. 


Traditional pies are made from scratch, generally round and pretty tricky to make. This one is a REBEL, it is not made from scratch, is square in shape and is super flaky and easy to make. Ever since I saw these pie recipes on Foodgawker, I wanted to make one too. I made a rather quick version of it, using store bought puff pastry.

Most of the pies have a filling made from freshly cut fruits. As the pie bakes for a long time, the fruits tend to cook and form a jam. As I was using puff pastry, the fruits would not have enough time to do that. So I made a stove-top jam and added it to the pastry. A final bake sets the jam well and blends everything together. 


This recipe comes together in about two hours, with an active time of just 15-20 minutes. The remaining time is for the puff pastry to thaw, for the pie to bake and cool! Plus, it has jam that is thick, so it retains the crunch overnight too! It does not become soggy at all!

Fan of traditional pie?


If you would like to make a traditional pie without puff pastry, just make the crust using your favorite recipe and line a pan with it. Then add the jams and top with stars and stripes. The pie will turn out awesome that way too! 

Variations


I used store-bought puff pastry for this one. But making them from puff pastry made at home is a great idea too. Or make it using any traditional crust. That works really well. 


All you need is two jams that are red and blue. To get the color, use fruits of your choice. I have tried cherry, raspberry, strawberry and even pitaya to make the red color. And blue of course is best derived from blueberries or blackberries. Feel free to combine any combination of the fruits as per the preferred taste. They all work really well. 


Finally, if you are making the pie just by the way or do not want to make the flag on top, either place ribbons of puff pastry in a criss-cross manner on top, or any pattern of your choice! The taste and flavor still holds good! 

So wait no further, and make this one for July 4th! And if you do, don't forget to tag me in your pictures on social media. Do follow Herbivore Cucina on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. 

Ingredients

Puff Pastry sheet 1 (store bought or homemade)

Strawberries 1/2 cup

Sweet Cherries 1/2 cup

Blueberries 1/2 cup

Sugar 3 tbsp

Butter 1 tsp

Method

Thaw the puff pastry as per package instructions. 

To start making the fillings, wash and chop strawberries to pieces. Plus, pit the cherries and half them. Add the fruits with 2 tbsp sugar to a pan. 

Heat till the fruits are soft and the sugar melts. It takes about 5-6 minutes for this. Do not overcook else the sugar will burn. Once done, remove in a bowl and cool. 

Wash the blueberries and add them with 1 tbsp sugar to a pan. Heat for 5-6 minutes, till the berries are soft. Remove and set aside.

Once the puff pastry has thawed, make a square or rectangle of the required size. Preheat oven to 400 F/ 210 C. Place the puff pastry on a baking tray or cookie sheet. Using a fork, prick the puff pastry sheet leaving 1 inch on all sides. Brush some butter on top and bake for 8-10 minutes, till the edges start to rise.

Meanwhile, use the leftover puff pastry to cut a few stars and stripes. If you have a cookie cutter use that. I just cut a simple star on a card paper and then used it to make stars in the puff pastry sheet. 

Remove the puff pastry from the oven. Spread the blueberry jam in 1/3 and the strawberry cherry jam in the remaining 2/3rd. Place the stars over the 'blue' area and stripes over the 'red'.

Bake for an additional 7-8 minutes, till the stars and stripes are baked. Remover and enjoy warm or chilled!