My Favorite Blueberry Pie
Those of you who know me, know that I’m an avid baker. Baking fruit pies in particular brings me so much joy. The combination of a buttery flaky crust with not overly sweet fresh fruit filling makes the perfect dessert at the end of dinner.
Two years ago, on a lazy Saturday in September, I attended a pie baking class at The Brooklyn Kitchen. It was a lovely class, and since then making pies got so easy I can bake them in my sleep. The recipe below was shared with us at the end of class, and modified by yours truly. Serve with a scope of good vanilla ice cream on the side.
For the pie crust:
320 g all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
226 g butter, cold and cubed
¾ cup cold water + 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cider vinegar (not all liquid needed everytime…)
For the filling:
2 lbs blueberries (about 6 cups)
2 Tbsp orange or lemon juice
100 g sugar
55 g light brown sugar
30 g cornstarch (or flour)
½ tsp ground nutmeg
3-4 dashes citrus bitters
Pinch salt
Zest of 1 orange or lemon
To prepare the crust:
1. Measure the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Add the cold butter and mix until pea-sized pieces of butter remain. Don’t over mix!
3. Add liquid until dough just comes together. Note: You may not require all of the liquid. Dough should be a shaggy texture and not wet.
4. Fraisage dough, then divide into two disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour.
5. Roll one disc of dough to fit 9” pie pan. Roll the other half into the same size round. Chill and cut into lattice strips one of the disks if that’s the look you’re going for.
Filling & Assembly:
1. Whisk together sugar with cornstarch.
2. Mix all filling ingredients together in a bowl
3. Pour filling on top of pie crust. Top with lattice crust (there are plenty of youtube videos to show you how to create lattice top. Check this one for example).
4. Egg wash top crust and sprinkle with raw sugar.
5. Bake pie at 425°F for 20 minutes and then lower temperature to 350° for an additional 30-40 minutes until crust is golden.
6. Allow pie to cool completely before cutting. If you cut it when it’s steaming hot, the filling won’t have time to cool and settle.