Blueberry Pie

You can never have enough pie. It's true. There are so many kinds, so many different techniques; I have to try them all. So, in the past two weeks, I have baked two berry pies. I was required to make a black raspberry pie--our berry bushes were dripping with them and I couldn't let them go to waste. So I made muffins with them, too. But I'll save that post for another day.

Today I wanted to share the beautiful simplicity of a good blueberry pie. I hadn't made one before, but it seemed appropriate for the Fourth of July. And my mom was here to help out and she makes the best pie crust I've ever had. Seriously. If you put a pie in front of me and it doesn't have her crust on it, I won't eat it. That's how biased I am. Thankfully, she taught me everything she knows about the art of pie dough and now I can have a pie whenever I want. Which is often, since it's my favorite dessert. Well, that and cheesecake, but one dessert at a time.

The trick to making a good crust is not to overwork it. Just like a quick bread or a cake, overworked pie dough gets tough. It's important not to stir too much, if you're making it by hand. Just toss and fluff the flour as you add the water until the dough comes together on its own. The other important thing is to have a really good filling. As good as pie crust is, it needs to complement the ingredients inside. Which brings me to the blueberries. I was a little concerned that it wouldn't set up and berry juice would leak all over the oven. The recipe I used included flour as a thickener, surely not enough to soak up all the juices. As it turns out, it was perfect. A hint of cinnamon, a sprinkle of lemon juice and lots of blueberries. The texture of the filling was absolutely lush. The berries were soft, without being mushy and the flavor was rich and just sweet enough. It was the best berry pie I'd ever made and I'll definitely be making one again. Just with a different recipe. I won't know until I try them ALL if this is as good as it gets. But it's a good place to start.

Blueberry Pie
 from Betty Crocker's Cookbook
Serves 8

Pastry for Two Crust 9'' Pie
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. cinnamon, if desired
6 c. blueberries
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. butter

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Make pastry (see previous post for ingredients and steps). Mix sugar, flour and cinnamon in large bowl. Stir in berries. Turn into pastry-lined pie plate Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over berry mixture. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over blueberries. Cover with top pastry, flute and cut vents in top. Cover edges with strips of aluminum foil to prevent excess browning; remove during last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 35-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice begins to bubble through slits. Cool on wire rack at least 2 hours.