I was happy to see that blueberry pie was the chosen recipe for this week. Around the 4th of July the grocery stores around here are PACKED with fresh blueberries and they are usually on sale too. I attribute it to the flag cake phenomena. Everyone makes flag cakes for the 4th of July, either in jello or with actual cake. I stocked up on blueberries and raspberries over the last week or so and froze many of them for later use. I guess I should thank the flag cake craze that will not die for the great deals on fruit! I set out to make this pie with a bit of anxiety since, you know, it involves making a pie crust from scratch. Me and pie crusts do not have a good track record. I usually end up throwing things and cursing, a lot. Then I go out and buy pre-made crusts and get on with it. This time I had the pre-made crusts in the freezer, waiting for me in case of disaster, but I was hopeful that I would not need them.
Sure enough, they are still in the freezer and I actually had a bit of success with Dorie’s crust recipe! I don’t have a large food processor (don’t really have room for one in our tiny kitchen but someday hopefully) so I used my pastry blender to make the dough. From looking at other people’s pictures of their dough I don’t think I blended mine enough, or maybe I didn’t add enough water? There were still some big, visible chunks of butter in it and the dough was kinda crumbling, especially around the edges. I rolled it out quickly, between pieces of saran wrap (this is where I’ve gone wrong before, when the dough gets warm and sticky) and plopped it in the pie pan. I didn’t roll it out enough for there to be much dough hanging over, so I didn’t really get to do the whole crimp the crust thing, but I sealed it the best I could and only a little blueberry juice seeped out during baking. I learned from my mistake with the cobbler to put the pie plate on a cookie sheet like Dorie says!
End result? A fantastic pie! I loved the crust (always my favorite part of a pie), and the blueberry with a hint of lemon filling was delicious. The real test was what Tyler thought, and he took one bite and rated it a 9, although he said it is not AS good as his mom’s blueberry pie recipe (I guess that one gets a 9.5?) I preferred this pie dough recipe to others I’ve tried, even though it does contain the evil that is shortening. I overlooked that since it was easier to roll out than other crusts I’ve attempted. I will use this crust again (maybe on a peach pie since those are coming into season now!) and blend it longer and with more water in hopes it is not so crumbly.
Thanks to Amy for selecting this recipe. Head on over to her blog to view the recipe and check out the blogroll to see what other TWD bloggers thought of Dorie’s blueberry pie!
