My family will tell you I bake alot but they will also tell you there are things I tend to prefer to bake when I do not mind the mess. Pies. I find making the crust a huge effort that results in flour everywhere. If you have similar concerns, I want you to know that there is no shame in using frozen. When I made this pie I was in the mood to make my own crust. Unfortunately, we do not have a food processor at the cottage. To add insult to injury, I do not even have a pastry cutter at the cottage (I do now but not when I made this pie). All had, was butter knives and forks. Oh! And another issue, which my friends laugh at but is 100% true, I have hot hands. So these are a few things I had to do. I weighed the butter and frozen it. Then grated it over the flour. I kept putting it in the fridge as I went along. Then when I had to bring it together with my hands, I left it in the fridge longer and ran my hands under cold water. I will not cover the pie dough I made here because I want to focus on the joy of my pie. I make Strawberry or Apple pies more often. And as you know if you bake at all is that they all 'collapse' but not in a bad way. You mound your fruit and in the case of strawberries, I do not recommend this because they will run out. In the case of apples that have not been macerated in sugar, will leave a hollow dome in the crust. Well, this pie, I used berries that we picked our selves so they were not frozen. I do not know where I got courage to pile the berries so high but it held up. It was glorious. I also rolled the top dough a bit thicker, so the lovely form held better. Most crusts suggest 3mm. I did do that for the bottom crust but for the top, I made it closer to 5mm (1/4"). I made too much dough so my son and I went at the decorating. To better get a sense of the crust, I use a rolling pin for cookies because they have markers for thickness.
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| Blueberry Pie of my domed Dreams |
Summer Cottage Blueberry Pie
2 Pie Crusts (or just one if you do not want a top crust and keep it a bit lighter)
6-8 cups Blueberries fresh AND COLD (I cannot guarantee if you use frozen, that it will not result in a soupy mess in the bottom of your pan so please use another recipe or just keep the berries just about level or just above level to the crust)
1/2c Sugar (1/4c Sugar if freshly picked)
1/2 large Lemon, Zest and Juice
Optional 7 or 8 Mint Leaves, cut fine.
1/4c Corn Starch
2T Flour
1/4t Cinnamon
1/8t ground Cardamom (this is magic)
1T Butter cut into tiny pieces placed over the fruit before the top crust.
pinch of salt this means 1/8 t if you ever wanted to know
(1 standard 9" pie)
Blind bake your crust and let cool completely
Roll out your top crust and place in the freezer. I roll on plastic wrap and place on a baking sheet in the freezer. If you do not have space, place on the bottom shelf of your fridge. Do this at least 15 minutes before going to the next step. Longer the better if you want a sturdy dough to weave with.
In an enormous bowl, preferably metal that is not too heavy so you can toss (Stirring risks you breaking the berries), place all the washed and DRIED berries. I wash in a big sieve that I can spread out gently with a paper towel. Then I put in a toaster oven baking sheet in the fridge until I need them. Add the flour and corn starch and toss until the berries are thoroughly coated. Add the Zest and Mint and sprinkle the Juice over all the berries and toss again. Sprinkle the spices and toss. Add the sugar last because they will start to draw out the moisture too soon. Toss thoroughly. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 405F. If you are fast at assembly, do this before the berries mix.
Take out your top crust but leave on the baking sheet. You can peel off the top layer of the plastic. Using a pizza cutter, cut 1.5cm strips. And do want you like with the trimmings. I re-rolled them for decor.
Pour the berries into the bottom crust. They will be a mound. If you flour and sugar in the bowl, you can pour over but try to get them into the crevices bc they may just crystalize on top. Place the litttle pieces of butter all over. Then start to weave. I start with the longest piece in the middle and weave from there. This is where the sturdier dough will help because you will have to lift and place to weave.
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| Blue Berry Pie with Lattice Crust |
Let cool on a rack for at least 2 hours. Overnight is better but my kids complain that it is better the same day.
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