I moved house, again. I am now a resident of Bow Road. Pretty much opposite the tube station, so pretty handy. Now you know where I live. No stalking please. But because of this move, I’ve been a bit slow on the baking lately. I’ve not had a chance to try out the new oven yet (don’t worry, that’ll be soon). On top of moving, I’ve been to my first press event and been quite social in the weeks. Baking takes time, as does editing photos and writing up the posts. But here’s a Blueberry Pie I baked about 2 weeks ago.

I had a day where I just spent the whole afternoon and evening in the kitchen. Making blueberry pie and homemade pizza. Both were a great success (the pizza dough I’ve done a few times, but the pie was knew to me), and I was really pleased with how my pastry turned out. I am still new to pastry, and if you saw my mini quiches or the pork pies I made for Realm & Empire then you’ll have seen that I’ve really been trying to push on with getting to grips with it. Something like a blueberry pie was the next logical step. Having said that, I’m still not quite there with the presentation. I need to get my crimping down and my lattices practised. Still being a tad intimidated, and the recipe I was using talking about either using a food processor or pastry knife I turned to these great tips by Joy The Baker – Pastry tips.

With it being summer it’s also the perfect time to make something especially fruity and summery. The pastry is light and flaky and the pie is good both hot and cold. Why not try coupling it with ice cream or some cream? Either way, get some pie down you.

Have you made anything particularly summery lately?  

Blueberry Pie

 

Print

Prep time

90 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

2 hours 30 mins

 

Author: The Bearded Baker

Serves: 1 Pie

Ingredients

• **For the pastry**
• 360g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp sugar, optional
• 227g very cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water
• **For the pie**
• 130-150g granulated sugar, depending on the sweetness of the berries
• 30g cornflour
• 2 tsp freshly grated lemon peel
• ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
• ⅛ tsp kosher salt
• 800g fresh blueberries
• 1 tsp (14g) butter, cubed
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tbsp coarse sugar, for garnish

Instructions

1. **For the pastry**
2. First up, make sure your butter is nice and cold. I actually stuck mine back in the fridge for a bit after I'd cubed it.
3. Toss the butter with the dry ingredients and dump it all onto the table top.
4. Make a slight mound in the middle and take out your rolling pin. Start rolling it out to incorporate the butter. When it's flat, use your hands and mound it back up to start again.You're aiming to create large areas of flat butter within the flour to create layers.
5. Once it's basically all combined, shift it back into the bowl and add the ice cold water. Combine and eventually press together with your hands. Divide into two balls (one slightly bigger than the other), wrap in cling film and stick it in the fridge for a good hour.
6. **For the pie**
7. Roll out the larger half on a lightly floured surface until it's a few cm larger than your pie tin (I used a 24cm tin).
8. Being careful not to stretch it, move it into the pie tin and trim the edges to neaten them.
9. Place this in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
10. **For the filling**
11. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, lemon peel and cornflour together. Add to the blueberries in a large bowl and toss to coat them well.
12. Transfer this into the prepared pie case and place it back in the fridge while you prepare the lattice.
13. **For the lattice**
14. Roll the other half of the dough out to a similar thickness you rolled the other. It should be larger than the diameter of the pie.
15. Cut out 10 strips (you may have to gather scraps into a ball and re-roll during) which are a couple 2-3 cms wide each.
16. Lay these over the top of the pie by weaving them. Alternating up and under to create a lattice/weave. Evenly space them so the pie is covered with even squares.
17. Trim the ends of the longer ones and crimp the edges of the pie.
18. Whisk together the egg yolk and cream, brush the surface of the pie and dust with the coarse sugar.
19. Place this in the fridge for a minimum of 20 minutes.
20. While it is cooling, preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan assisted) and position a rack in the lower third of the oven.
21. Remove the pie from the oven, and before you move it inside dot the gaps in the lattice with small bits of butter.
22. Bake for 20 minutes and then drop the temperature to 180°C(160°C fan assisted) for a final 35-45 minutes. The juices should be bubbling eagerly and the crust golden brown. If it looks like it's getting too dark but the filling isn't bubbling yet, add some foil during baking.
23. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack for 2-3 hours. If you remove it and try to cut it up without it cooling properly the filling won't have set and will be all runny.
24. Serve with cream or ice cream.

3.3.3077