Friday is PIE DAY! (except when it's Monday)

Sometimes life gets in the way of pie.  Last week was so jam packed with work projects, that I found myself with no time for baking.  However, Sunday was a lovely respite.  I was able to relax and catch up with things around the house. I baked a pie loaded with fruit and redolent of summer. It was the perfect finish to an al fresco meal with friends last night. So, better late than never, here is the pie.

Cranberries may seem like an odd choice for a spring fruit pie, but I am determined to break them out of the Thanksgiving rut.  I stock my freezer with bags of them to encourage myself to bake with them year around. Their tang seemed like the perfect match for the sweet taste of strawberries. I had my heart set on some fresh apricots to finish off the fruit trio for this pie, but came up empty handed at the grocery store.  They did have something called an aprium, a cross between an apricot and a plum.

How these exactly differ from the wildly popular pluot I am not sure. I still would have preferred good old apricots, but lacking that option, decided to try the apriums.  The cashier was really excited about them, so that was a bit reassuring.  They did add the firmness and color variation that I was looking for, resulting in a lovely and tasty fruit combination.

In the world of pie, you can't get much more perfect than a bunch of fruit baked between two flaky pie crusts.  We sliced it while it was still warm, so it was a juicy, fruity, yummy mess. 

Topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was a delicious way to celebrate a warm May evening.

Triple Fruit Pie

2 cups whole fresh (or frozen, then thawed) cranberries
1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
4 apriums (I would still go with apricots if I had them, but experiement as desired), pitted and sliced
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 T flour
2 T butter
1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg

double 9" pie crust

-toss fruit with sugar and flour
-spoon into prepared pie crust
-dot top with butter
-grate nutmeg over top
-top with crust, crimp and vent
-bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, until fruit is bubbling and crust is brown