So Many Dishes

Apologies to Fats Domino, but I couldn’t resist. It’s hard to resist the temptation of blueberry pie, too, and the one I made for Easter was certainly enticing.

My mother made blueberry pie pretty regularly when I was growing up. Pie was a standard dessert around our house, and my mother made baking one look effortless. Apple tart was probably the kind she made most often, but cherry and blueberry pies showed up often. We had a sour cherry tree in our backyard, and she would cook and freeze batches of cherry pie filling. My job was to put the cherries, and I spent many summer afternoons, sitting at the picnic table outside, squeezing the cherries and pulling out the pits. Sour as they were, I loved to eat those cherries.

I can’t, however, remember my mother making homemade blueberry filling. That always came out of a can. We ate lots of fresh blueberries when they were in season, and my paternal grandmother would go someplace where she could pick fresh huckleberries to make pies, but I didn’t see my mom make a fresh blueberry pie.

We kicked around a lot of ideas for our holiday dessert, but I knew we’d settle on a pie. When we decided on blueberry, my search was on for just the right recipe. I found one at Sally’s Baking Addiction. Sally’s is a great source for recipes that are doable by an amateur baker. She says she’s a self-taught baker, and it shows in her approach. While I used my own pie crust and crumb topping, the filling was easy to put together from the clear directions. The recipe notes indicate that Sally has tinkered with the recipe, because she references an earlier version. The site is clearly popular: this recipe has over 500 comments.

What sets this pie apart is the addition of lemon juice and zest, plus ground cinnamon. It keeps the filling from being too sweet. The addition of both flour and cornstarch resulted in a nice firm, yet jammy filling that was a great consistency for slicing. I made the pie a day in advance, which gave the filling extra time to set overnight. I suspect that, if you cut it while it was still warm, you’d have a runny filling. The recipe suggests waiting at least 4 hours.

A deep pie dish is essential, I think. I used my deep 9-inch pie plate, and that worked fine. I did put foil on the bottom oven rack, in case it cooked over, but it didn’t. The amount of filling is generous; I had to run out to buy another container of berries, because I realized that I didn’t have enough.

I’m not including a pie crust recipe. As I’ve said in previous posts, I do my scratch crust by feel, without precise measurements of ingredients. You can use your own recipe, or one of Sally’s crust recipes, or a refrigerated pie crust from the store. I am including my crumb topping, because we loved adding that to the pie, rather than the lattice crust indicated. If you want to make a lattice, go for it. The baking directions are the same.

Homemade Blueberry Pie

• Pie crust, unbaked
• 6 cups fresh blueberries (3 pints)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• Crumb topping (recipe below)

Stir the blueberries, sugar, flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, lemon juice, and lemon zest together in a large bowl. Mix together until it’s no longer dry and powdery; burst a few blueberries if necessary to moisten.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place baking sheet or foil on bottom rack to catch any blueberry juices.

Place the pie crust dough in the pie pan. Pour and spread filling evenly into pie dish. For the pieces of butter on top of the filling. Spoon the crumb topping evenly over the pie.

Bake the pie at 425 degrees for 25 minutes; then, keeping the pie in the oven, reduce the temperature down to 375 degrees. Carefully place a pie shield or aluminum foil strips on the edges to prevent the crust from over-browning. Continue baking for 40-50 minutes. The filling’s juices should be bubbling; if you check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer, it should be 190-200 degrees.

Remove the pie from the oven, place on a cooling rack, and cool for at least 4 hours before slicing and serving. Makes 6-8 servings.

Crumb Topping

• 3/4 cup flour
• 2/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter (I let the butter soften slightly)

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. With a pastry blender or fork, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until medium to fine crumbs form. Use as directed to top pie filling.

As my grandmother would say, not too bad. There was no higher praise. I say, it’s worth every calorie.

Happy eating!