Making Blueberry Pie

I made this for the 4th of July (hence the stars) and brought it to a pot luck. Two small slivers disappeared in the first half hour, but a few minutes later I noticed guests with pieces that were fully 1/4 of the pie. I took it as a compliment. Start by assembling your ingredients and preparing the crust according to directions. When the crust has rested, combine the filling ingredients in a large bowl like so:

blueberrypie1

Fresh blueberries are the best here but frozen will work even though there’ll be a lot more juice to thicken. Give the whole mess a stir.

blueberrypie2

Pour all that into your pie shell.

blueberrypie3

Add the top crust and any decorations you might like for the top. Note that crust scrap stars need to be rested every bit as much as the rest of the crust, lest you activate the gluten in them, which will cause them to shrink up in the oven. Don’t forget to cut some vents!

blueberrypie4

Bake to this point, when the crust is well browned and a little fulling bubbles out the vents.

blueberrypie

Let the pie rest a good four hours so the filling sets. I like it served fairly soon after that, only slightly warm, a little vanilla ice cream does not hurt.

8 thoughts on “Making Blueberry Pie”

  1. Joe,

    Since you mentioned frozen berries in your post, I’ve got a question for ya.

    How much extra tapioca (my thickener of choice) would you add to compensate for the extra juice frozen berries give off? I’ve had problems with this in my last few pies (ton of frozen berries… my cup runneth over, poor me ), and the very latest one I resorted to sucking out about a half-cup of liquid with a turkey baster.

    Thanks!

    1. Hey Ed!

      I’ve done that before, it’s not fun. If you’re having a lot of problems with juice, you might try a different tack, like thawing the berries in a colander and catching the juice in a bowl beneath. You can then reduce the juice slowly in a saucepan until it’s a thick essence, then recombine it with filling when you mix it.

      If that’s too elaborate, then I’d use tapioca flour (not the granules) to ensure a strong gel, and use a full 5 tablespoons of the stuff. Let me know how it goes!

      Cheers,

      – Joe

    1. All of us in our 40’s can use a little nip and tuck, is all I can say. I feel so much more confident now just walking down the street!

      But thanks and its good to be back!

      – Joe

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *