Apple-Pear-Cherry Pie

Ingredients

• 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 2 large pears, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cherries, pitted
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• Pie crust for a 9 inch pie

Directions

1. Start the cherries in a small saucepan: stir together 1/4 cup of the sugar and 1/2 cup water, then bring it up to a boil. Add dried cherries, lower to a simmer for 3 minutes, then take the pan off the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature. Drain the cherries, keeping the liquid if you’d like to pour it over ice cream. Peel and core the apples and pears, then slice the fruit 1/3-inch-thick. In a large bowl, combine the apples, pears, and cherries with the 1/4 cup sugar that remains, plus the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Leave the filling aside.
2. For the dough, add the flour, sugar, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attached, or use a large bowl if you’re working by hand. Blend them for a second or 2, only enough to combine. Add the butter and, on low speed or with a pastry cutter by hand, break it into the flour mixture until the texture is crumbly and no butter bit is larger than a pea, about 2 minutes. To check the temperature, pinch up a little of the mixture and press it into a cube; if your fingers feel greasy afterward, chill the mixture for 15 minutes before continuing. With the mixer running low, or while tossing with a fork by hand, scatter 2 Tbs. cold water across the flour-butter mixture. Mix only until the dough gathers into a shaggy clump, adding water if necessary, 1 tsp. at a time. Split the dough in half, press both portions into disks, and put 1 piece in the refrigerator.
3. Flour your work surface and roll the other disk into a 12-inch circle, rotating the dough and dusting with more flour whenever it threatens to stick. Move it into a 9-inch pie plate and ease it down gently, with no stretching. Trim the edge so 1 inch of pastry extends past the plate.
4. Tip the filling into the crust-lined plate and press with your palms until the fruit lies evenly; that little pat-down helps keep apple edges from stabbing through the top crust. Refrigerate the pie while you roll the chilled disk.
5. Roll the chilled dough as you did the bottom crust. Lay it over the pie, then trim the top-crust edge so it matches the bottom crust. Turn both edges together and tuck them underneath, letting the seam sit on the pie plate rim and build a high border. Crimp all the way around, checking that the seam is closed. Make steam vents in the top with the point of a paring knife in a few spots.
6. Cover the pie tightly with plastic wrap and freeze it for at least 1 day.
7. Move an oven rack to the lowest position. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil, place the sheet on the rack, and heat the oven to 350°F.
8. Beat together the milk or cream and egg yolk in a small bowl. Brush the egg wash over the top of the pie; expect extra. It may freeze onto the crust as you brush, so open the steam vents again if they get sealed. Bake the pie on the hot baking sheet until the crust turns a deep golden color and the juices are bubbling, about 1 hour, 45 minutes. If the edge browns too quickly, loosely tent the sides with foil or protect the edge with a pie guard.
9. Let the pie rest on a rack for about 4 hours, until it cools to room temperature, then serve.