Here is a not-pumpkin dessert for your Fall table.
Do you ever do that thing where you buy tonnes and tonnes of berries in the Summer and freeze them with the intention of baking something bright and delicious in the Winter when you long for Summer feelings, but then forget to use them entirely and they are still there the following Summer!? I do.
Don't let that happen this year.
Live up to those intentions and bake that berry pie this season. Don't wait until they're covered in ice crystals and totally broken (big thumbs down).
What happens when something as delicate as blueberries thaws and refreezes with the cycle of your freezer is that the water re-crystallizes slowly into much larger ice crystals that puncture the cell walls of the berries and damage their integrity so that when you go to use them and they begin to thaw, buckets of violet liquid (that's all your precious blueberry juice!) leaks out almost immediately. This leads to lost flavour and a soggy crust.
To summarize: let's use them before next Summer.
Now here's an important question that I think needs some attention:
What baking dish should you use?
This doesn't normally seem important, but it will affect your baking time. You may have lovely decorative ceramic pie plates that will present beautifully to the table, and by all means use them! Just note that it may take about 10 minutes longer for your pie to bake and you will definitely want to use very high heat at the beginning to seal in that crust (especially the bottom crust). If you have a bottom heating element in your oven, place the pie on the lower-third rack. Ceramic is a great insulator so it will keep your pie warm for longer, but this also means it takes longer to heat through.
Aluminum pie pans will conduct heat fast and certainly lend a crisp crust, but the obvious downfall is that they are not all that pretty. You might spend the whole day trying to convince people that your pie is not store-bought.
I prefer tempered glass for two main reasons. 1) It conducts heat faster than ceramic, and 2) It allows me to see through the bottom so that I know if my bottom crust is baked through and golden brown.
Either way, I hope you bake pies upon pies this holiday season.
If you still plan to do the pumpkin thing though, I recommend these:
Maple Pumpkin Pies with Cranberry Pecan Praline.
And if you want to brush up on your pastry skills, here's all you need to know:
How to make the very Best Flaky Pie Crust.
Big big love xo
Christina.
BEST Blueberry Pie
makes about 8 servings
For the pie dough:
1/3 cup very cold unsalted
butter, cut into ¾-inch cubes
1/3 cup very cold pure
lard, cut into ¾-inch cubes
4 tbsp ice cold water
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp granulated sugar
¼ tsp salt
For the filling:
25 oz fresh or frozen blueberries
(about 5 cups)
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
pinch of freshly grated
nutmeg (about 4 grates on a fine handheld grater)
For the topping:
1 large egg, well beaten
1 tbsp coarse sanding
sugar
To make the crust, first
place the butter and lard in the freezer for 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk
together flour, sugar and salt. Add about 3 tablespoons of fat (a mix of butter
and shortening) and rub it into the flour mixture using your fingertips until
it resembles coarse crumbs. The fat should be well dispersed so that the
mixture feels mealy and the flour is less dusty. This will create a tender
crust as the fat coats the flour particles and acts as a barrier to prevent the
development of gluten proteins that can make the dough tough.
Add the remaining cold
butter and shortening and toss it in flour mixture to coat. Using a pastry
blender or a bench scraper, cut the fat into flour to break it down into
pea-sized pieces. Get in there with your fingers and press some large bits of fat between your thumb and forefinger to flatten them out. Place the bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes to allow the fat to firm up.
Gradually sprinkle cold
water over the chilled shaggy dough mixture one tablespoon at a time while gently tossing with a fork until the dough is moistened and it barely
clings together in clumps. The dough will hold together when squeezed or
pressed when it is ready, but it should not form a ball. Turn dough out onto a
clean surface and bring it together with your hands, pressing in loose bits
until it is evenly moist and cohesive but not completely smooth. Divide the
dough almost in half (one half slightly larger than the other), flatten each
portion into a disk, wrap well with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2
hours or overnight.
Preheat your oven to 425°F
and place a baking sheet on the bottom rack.
Place the blueberries in a
large bowl and set aside. Whisk together sugar, corn starch, flour, cardamom
and nutmeg until no lumps remain and set aside. You will fold this together with
the blueberries immediately before filling the pie.
On a lightly floured work
surface, roll the larger half into a 12 to 13-inch circle, rotating the dough
and adding more flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Carefully drape the
dough over an 8x2-inch round glass pie dish. Gently press the dough into the
bottom edges and up the sides of the dish. Refrigerate until firm, about 15
minutes, while making the filling and rolling out the top crust. This allows
the rolled layers of gluten and fat to relax and firm up, creating a more flaky
crust.
Once the bottom crust is
chilled, begin to roll out the other portion of dough into a 10 to 11-inch wide
round. Add sugar mixture to the bowl with the berries and fold them together
until evenly blended. Pour into chilled pie crust. Brush edges with beaten egg
and carefully drape chilled top crust over the filled pie. Press edges of top
crust against bottom crust edges to seal. Trim off excess dough around the
edges leaving a ½-inch overhang and then tuck it in by rolling it underneath
itself (the top and bottom crust together) so that it sits against the edge of
the pie dish. This ensures a tight seal on your pie. Crimp decoratively using
three fingers - your thumb and index finger on one hand and the index finger of
the other hand. Using your thumb and index finger from one hand, push from the
outside edge of the crust toward the inside of the pie while pushing at the
same time with the index finger of the other hand in the opposite direction
between the other two fingers.
Place the pie in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Brush top and edges of chilled
pie lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Make six 1½-inch
incisions in an asterisk pattern on the top crust to let steam escape during
baking.
Place pie on baking sheet
on bottom rack of oven and bake for 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to
350°F and bake until juices have been bubbling for at least 5 minutes, 35-40
minutes longer. Loosely cover the edges with aluminum foil midway through
baking to protect them from overbrowning if necessary. Transfer pie to a wire
rack to cool completely before slicing.
Any changes if using frozen berries? Looks like you used some type of scoop instead of a knife to take a piece of pie? :-)
ReplyDeleteNo changes for frozen blueberries, just don't let them thaw or they will leak juice everywhere. And yes, I totally just sat in front of the pie with a spoon and dug in!
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