Blueberry Pie

Sep 18, 2011 | Dessert, Featured Articles


One of the many benefits of living in central Iowa is relatively easy access to high quality local food during the summer and early fall. Whether that means shopping at the local co-op, driving out to a nearby u-pick fruit farm, or heading to one of several farmers’ markets. As July gets started, I can’t wait for the blueberries to be ready at the Berry Patch near Nevada, IA. Just a short drive from my house I’m able to pick strawberries, gooseberries, currants, cherries, etc., but my favorite crop is definitely the blueberries.

At the beginning of the season, I eat raw berries by the handful. Towards the end of the season, I start thinking of other ways to eat them. Whether that’s as a sauce for ice cream, in muffins, or – recently – as pie. In the past, I haven’t been a big fan of blueberry pie. It was usually overly sweet or excessively runny and just plain sad. That’s why I was a little hesitant this summer when I was offered a slice of blueberry pie by a family friend, Amy, and surprised that it was delicious! Naturally, I asked for the recipe.

I’ve made this pie several times over the summer and tweaked it from the original slightly. I usually bake it in a 9-inch deep dish pie plate, but I’ve also tried 1-cup custard dishes. When using the custard cups, I usually get about 8 mini-pies per batch. I’m not including a pie crust recipe here because I’ve used a few different crusts throughout the summer and suggest that you use whichever crust is your favorite, even if that means store bought. If you want some recipes and advice on pie crust, Elise at Simply Recipes has you covered.

Blueberry Pie

adapted from Amy’s kitchen
Ingredients

  • 2 cups raw blueberries, crushed
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbs butter
  • 3 tbs cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
  • 3 cups raw blueberries
  • 2 pie crusts

Directions

  1. Mix the first five ingredients together in a sauce pan and turn heat to medium. Cook until bubbling and starting to thicken. Take off the heat, add the 1/4 tsp almond extract, and proceed with the recipe.
  2. Press the bottom crust into a deep dish pie plat and then prick all over with a fork (including the sides) and bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven.
  3. Put the fresh blueberries into the baked bottom crust and top with the blueberry sauce. Top with the second crust and bake for another 10-20 min.
  4. Allow to cool to room temperature and then serve either plain or with a small scoop of ice cream. This goes really well with vanilla, but would also work well with browned butter or cherry pit ice cream.