Saturday, June 6, 2009

Very Blueberry Pie

Ever been blueberry picking, hot sun beating down on you, pail in hand, picking blueberries, maybe with mosquitoes buzzing around you. Mysteriously, an equal amount of those luscious blue-purple globes found their way to the bucket and to your mouth. And when you bit down on them they squirted their sweet tart juice down your throat and you knew you were eating sunshine. It was like that for me. My grandmother used to take me on an old logging road near her home, and we followed it alongside the little brook that separated her property until we arrived at her secret blueberry patch. There we would eat like two mischievous children, coming come back with with only a brimming bowlful, enough to make a pie.

I love blueberry pie, but so many of them are thick with crust and starchy filling. I'll eat them, can't say no, but if you LOVE blueberries, don't want a lot of ingredients between you and those wonderful globes of goodness, try this Very Blueberry Pie. Nothing but a mound of whipped topping is between you blueberry heaven.

I clipped this recipe out of a grocery store pamphlet some years ago. The recipe instructions call for salt, but it's not included in the ingredient list. I've Goggled the recipe and can't find this precise one so I add a 1/4 teaspoon. Seems to work fine.


Very Blueberry Pie

1/4 cup cold water
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups fresh or dry-pack frozen blueberries, rinsed and drained
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

1 baked 9-inch pie shell (recipe to follow)

Make a smooth paste with the 1/4 cup cold water flour and salt and set aside.

Boil 1 cup blueberries with sugar and 1/2 cup water. Add the flour paste*** and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and cool.

Add the remaining blueberries. Put into baked pie shell.

Refrigerate. Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

***When I followed these directions, I had a horrid lumpy floury ball that seized in the middle of my blueberries. I stirred and stirred, the mixture did thicken up, but there were unsightly strands of flour throughout. I ended up putting the mixture through a fine sieve and then tossing away a floury mass. The syrup was smooth and thick, but it would've been better if if were thicker. I haven't made this recipe in a while and I don't remember this happening the last time. If you have any ideas how to avoid this in the future, I'd be glad to adopt it. Perhaps the flour/water mixture needed more water?




Because this pie needs one prebaked pie crust, I went to Allrecipes and found Easy Pie Crust and the submitter isn't kidding; this crust is super easy. You make the crust right up in the pie pan you're going to use, pat it around the sides and bottom, and then bake. No rolling out. No extra dishes to wash. It's an acceptable crust, and it worked well. I think a rolled crust is better tasting and has a better texture. This one was kind of crumbly, almost like a cracker crumbly. I reduced the salt and added extra sugar as some reviewers suggested, but I thought it was too sweet. Would I do it again? Perhaps. But if I saw another similar recipe I wouldn't hesitate to try it.

26 comments:

  1. Very Blueberry indeed my dear Katy and very yummmy 2!

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  2. I love, love, love anything with blueberries and this looks totally amazing! I love how you weave your stories in with your recipes!

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  3. Blueberries are such amazingly healthy berries - so great to see them in your yummy pie! I could really go for a slice right now!

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  4. I love, love, love blueberry pie!! I love your memories, they made me feel like a barefoot little girl picking blueberries and getting stained fingers!! YUM :D

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  5. I love the looks of your pie. And I'll go so far as to say there's is no dessert in the world that can beat a good, warm blueberry pie. Have a great weekend.

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  6. Oh my golly Katy, this looks so colorful and scrumptious. Blueberries are at the top of my berry list. Your crust look terrific also.

    I loved how you described eating a blueberry! :0)

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  7. I just LOVE blueberries and your pie looks awesome! I could just take a bite out of the screen!!!

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  8. The blueberries look so perfect in this pie! Absolutely delicious!

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  9. I have a large area of cultivated blueberries on my property & I'm always looking for new recipes. I'm definitely gonna try this. Billy will love it!

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  10. Looks great Katy! I love blueberries...and went blueberry picking just last year with my dad for the first time in years!

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  11. Katy...pies absolutely scare the heck out of me...to bake at least...not to eat! Grin. I have no expert advice on anything to do with crusts or fillings. And I usually 'fudge' it when I DO make a pie...grin. This looks super good...I love how the berries are NOT smothered in sauce or top crust but sit proudly on top. Yum...and your 'lead in' story brought me right along with you. A taste of sunshine...indeed!

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  12. I loved the story of you picking blueberries with your grandmother. What a great memory. Sadly, I have never pick blueberries. But I would love to and bake up this pie!

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  13. What a heavenly looking pie for the blueberry lover like me! I've never picked blueberries, but I'm quite fond of eating them :) What a great story about you and your grandma.

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  14. Katy...GORGEOUS! Blueberries are on sale in a local market this week and I am planing to buy some. I may buy extra to make this pie!

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  15. No blueberries down this way, but I've done my share of blackberry picking. It is a beautiful pie. Yum-eee.

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  16. This does look like blueberry bliss. Wierd about the whole flour issue but the pie did't seem to have suffered for the mass of flour goo.
    The only thing I can say is move over whip cuz here comes ice cream!

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  17. Mary, Jason, thank you for coming by my little blog! It is so nice to make your acquaintance and to welcome you here. I hope you come by again.

    Well, after cooling overnight, the pie thickened up pretty well (even though a good amount of the flour didn't make it through the sieve). It was the tiniest tad runny, but didn't put me off one whit.

    One of the bloggers I follow uses tapioca as a thickener (blush, I don't remember who, my apologies), and perhaps that would be a better alternative. I don't know because I've never used tapioca in a pie before.

    I'm happy, I'm keeping the recipe, and I will make it again, grins.

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  18. Oh yum - I adore blueberry pie!

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  19. Oh my goodness, look at those plump blueberries! This looks amazing!

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  20. What a beautiful pie! Thanks for stopping by my blog. Enjoyed your blog! Adding you to my faves and following.

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  21. Yummo Katy this looks good!!
    I remember the good old berry picking times..always made sure we came home with enough for a pie.. that is after we filled our tummies..

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  22. This pie looks perfect, I dore blueberries. Ill have a slice, some vanilla ice cream on top!

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  23. Katy the pie looks so delicious! It reminds me of a blueberry tart that was a favorite of mine years ago. A bakery had it and I have not been able to duplicate it at all!!!

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  24. I haven't had blueberry pie forever...you have inspired me to go bake one! And with your recipe, it will surely be a hit!
    Thanks!

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  25. The blueberries are piling over! It's the best looking blueberry pie I've ever seen! I have to make this!

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