i went through a phase where i absolutely loved making pies. every time my parents would go visit my oldest sister (who at the time was in university), i would send up an apple pie for her & her roommates. then for some unknown reason i stopped making pies. maybe i thought it was too much work, but that is nonsense! once you get the perfect pie dough down pact, it's easy as... you guessed it, pie! ok but really, who ever made up that colloquial idiom clearly never made a pie before. my new goal is to work on my pie dough skills. braids, leaves & more braids! for this particular pie i chose blueberries because it is summer and berries are in season (which also means they are on sale). i am just getting started, expect a lot more modest marce pies in the future.
ingredients
for the dough
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold & cubed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup ice cold water
for the filling
- 5 cups fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup raw sugar
- 1/4 corn starch
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 egg + 1 teaspoon water (egg wash)
directions
- for the dough: using a food processor (or by hand), pulse the flour and salt a few times to blend.
- add the cubed butter and vanilla. pulse until a crumb like texture is formed.
- slowly add the cold water one tablespoon at a time until a dough begins to form (if you accidentally add too much water add a bit more flour).
- once the dough begins to come together, turn out onto a pastry board and form into a disk using your hands.
- refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.
- for the filling toss blueberries, sugar, corn starch, cinnamon and lemon juice in a mixing bowl.
- to assemble roll out half the dough to approximately a 1/4 inch thickness. cover pie plate, trim, poke air holes, and pinch in edges.
- add filling, and top with the second half of dough (note: i did a braided lattice top, but any design will do)
- brush with egg wash & sprinkle with raw sugar.
- cook at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, turn temperature down to 350 degrees and cook for another 30 minutes.
- let pie cool to room temperature to set before slicing.