Another pie?
Yes! Pie and pastry seem
daunting, but with a little practice (tasty, tasty, practice!) they are rather
easy. Here are 2 few things I have
learned along the way:
1. Keep everything really cold. I like the method of freezing the shortening for 30 mins or
so and then grating it into the flour.
I usually then stick the whole bowl of flour/shortening into the freezer for 15 mins or so before
adding the cold water and bringing the dough together.
2. Filling fruit pies is basically the same. 4-5 cups of fruit to 3-4 tbsp of some
thickening agent (cornstarch, tapioca), ¾ cup sugar, lemon juice, and spice
(cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger).
Juicier fruit like peaches and strawberries do well with a 50/50
cornstarch/tapioca mix.
Lemons and blueberries are a perfect match, and this pie is
bursting with the flavours of both.
You can use unthawed frozen blueberries if you don’t have fresh, making
this a perfect pie to make year-round.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 recipe pie dough, as per this recipe
- 4 cups blueberries
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ¾ cup sugar
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
- pinch of salt
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
METHOD
1. Make and roll out pie dough as per this recipe.
2. Gently toss blueberries with the lemon juice.
3. Whisk sugar and cornstarch together, then mix in lemon
zest, salt, and cinnamon. Gently
toss with blueberries and fill pie shell.
4. Add top crust, cut steam vent, and refrigerate for 30
mins, or until pie has firmed up.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees then bake in the lower 1/3 of
the oven for about an hour, or until the filling is bubbling all over and the
crust is golden. Add about 15 mins
for frozen berries.
HOW TO BAKE A FROZEN PIE
If you want to make a pie and save it for later, I think
they taste best if they are put in the freezer, unbaked in a freezer bag, and
then baked up later. Here’s how to
do it:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees with rack on the bottom
shelf. Wrap the edge of the pie
crust in a strip of aluminum foil.
Bake for 15 mins, then reduce heat to 375 degrees. From here it will take another 45 to 60
minutes to finish the pie. Juicier
pies (like peach) will take the longest.
Remove the foil for the final 15 mins of baking to brown everything up
nicely.
