Blueberry Pie!!!???

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Andy M.

Certified Pretend Chef
Joined
Sep 1, 2004
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Location
Massachusetts
While grocery shopping yesterday, I impulse bought some blueberries. I thought I'd make a pie. I got home and searched for a recipe because I wanted to do it right away.

First problem: Blueberries are sold in pints. Recipes call for cups of blueberries or pounds of blueberries. Upon checking I find I have just under 6 cups of blueberries (1Lb, 14.625 Oz).

OK, search for a recipe that calls for up to six cups of berries. I found several.

Second problem: Quantities are all over the place. Flour - anywhere from 5 tablespoons to 1.5 cups. Lemon juice - anywhere from a 'squeeze' to a half cup.

So I picked a recipe:

5 cups Blueberries
1 Tb Lemon Juice
1 C Sugar
1/2 C Flour
Salt
Cinnamon
2 Tb butter

Combine everything but the butter. Put it into the pie plate with a bottom crust in place. dot with butter, top crust brushed with egg, bake. 400ºF 35 minutes or until crust is golden.

I baked it on a cookie sheet near the bottom of the oven so the bottom crust would cook. It didn't.

I floured the bottom crust well before I put it into the pie plate so it wouldn't stick. That worked well.

Here's the thing. The filling was disappointing. All that flour and the filling is still runny, This morning there is a blueberry puddle in the pie plate.

When I was mixing the filling with the dry ingredients, it seemed like there was a lot of dry ingredients. When I served the pie last night, there were unsightly blobs of the white flour/sugar mixture in with the blueberries. I expected that to disappear. It's pretty unsightly.

BOTTOM LINE:

I shouldn't have rushed. I should have taken the time to ask you guys for a TNT recipe I could count on.

Lesson learned.

Does anyone have a TNT recipe for blueberry pie they are willing to share?

Thanks.
 
Hmmm, Andy.

Here's what I normally do. I combine my dry ingredients and toss them with the dry blueberries. I also add a good dose of ground up tapioca to the dry ingredients, which aids in thickening the juices the pie naturally creates.

I usually just sprinkle the lemon juice over the top of the mixture after I've put it into the crust, then dot with butter, put the top crust on and, yada, yada, yada. The rest is history.

Funny you should bring this up because I, too, was lured by the blueberries in the market this week. I'm about to do the same thing with the ones I bought.
 
Gee, Andy. I just usually go by "feel." The one thing I do pay attention to is the sweetness or lack thereof of the berries. I add my sugar accordingly. If I had to give you a number I'd say about 1/2 cup per 4 cups of berries. I don't usually add cinnamon to my blueberry pies. Just a good splash of vanilla paste.

Instead of flour, you might try a few tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with the lemon juice. I do that sometimes, but I nearly always whiz up some tapioca in my blender or food processor and add that along with the dry ingredients. Seems to help.
 
I support Kate H. - cornstarch or tapioca is always added to my fruit pies. Butter also adds a special "something."
 
Thanks Katie and Selkie. Does the cornstarch/tapioca combo disappear in the filling? As I mentioned, the clumps of flour/sugar that remained in the baked pie are not appetizing.

Also, if you are using cornstarch, is that in addition to flour or instead of flour.
 
Thanks Katie and Selkie. Does the cornstarch/tapioca combo disappear in the filling? As I mentioned, the clumps of flour/sugar that remained in the baked pie are not appetizing.

Also, if you are using cornstarch, is that in addition to flour or instead of flour.

The cornstarch and tapioca are in place of the flour. I've never had any clumps of them in my filling. In the case of mixing the cornstarch with the lemon juice, it will most definitely disappear. The tapioca pretty much disappears, too. That is dependent on how fine it is ground before adding to the other ingredients.

I didn't say it before, but I do add butter to my pies, too. That was part of the "yada, yada, yada" I mentioned. Just trying to let you know that I prepared my pie in a very similar manner to yours.
 
Cornstarch will gel better in a pie than flour.

I usually make my pie a day ahead of time and let it chill. If I'm going to serve warm, I'll pop slices in the microwave.

Fruit pies are tricky. Getting a filling that doesn't run, but not too thick is a pain.

I've started making blueberry filling in a saucepan and putting that in the pie. If it thickens in the pan, it'll hold up in the pie. With the juices already thickened it'll help prevent soggy bottom.

Sent from my XT1080 using Discuss Cooking mobile app
 
Andy, my crust always comes out perfect, top and bottom. For fruit pies, I put the bottom crust into the pan, brush with beaten egg, and pop into a 400' oven for about 6 to eight minutes. This sets the egg, which in turn seals the liquid from the crust. As for getting the filling the right consistency, the only time I've had a perfect blueberry pie filling was when I used a recipe from a box of tapioca starch. I lost the recipe years ago, much to my chagrine. I'll see if I can find a recipe that looks like the one I used. Hold tight. Oh, and I really don't see the need for the lemon, especially with store-bought blueberries, which aren't nearly as sweet as are wild blueberries.

Found one. It seems that the unique properties of tapioca starch make it the starch of choice for juicy, fruits used in pies. It makes the fruit glossy, has twice the thickening power of flour, is slightly sweet, thickens at a lower temp that does flour or cornstarch, and has no starchy flavor of feel.

Here's the recipe I found - Blueberry Pie - Recipe - Cooks.com.

Andy, blueberry pie is one of the premier pies, and deserves to be enjoyed as one of the great pies. Good luck, buddy.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Andy, my crust always comes out perfect, top and bottom. For fruit pies, I put the bottom crust into the pan, brush with beaten egg, and pop into a 400' oven for about 6 to eight minutes. This sets the egg, which in turn seals the liquid from the crust. As for getting the filling the right consistency, the only time I've had a perfect blueberry pie filling was when I used a recipe from a box of tapioca starch. I lost the recipe years ago, much to my chagrine. I'll see if I can find a recipe that looks like the one I used. Hold tight. Oh, and I really don't see the need for the lemon, especially with store-bought blueberries, which aren't nearly as sweet as are wild blueberries.

Found one. It seems that the unique properties of tapioca starch make it the starch of choice for juicy, fruits used in pies. It makes the fruit glossy, has twice the thickening power of flour, is slightly sweet, thickens at a lower temp that does flour or cornstarch, and has no starchy flavor of feel.

Here's the recipe I found - Blueberry Pie - Recipe - Cooks.com.

Andy, blueberry pie is one of the premier pies, and deserves to be enjoyed as one of the great pies. Good luck, buddy.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

I actually like the flavor that just a bit of lemon gives blueberry things, I never thought of it as a way of tempering sweetness.

Sent from my XT1080 using Discuss Cooking mobile app
 
I noticed what a difference a little lemon makes when I was making blueberry topping for cheesecake. I tasted it as I was cooking it and it tasted good. Then I added the lemon and WOW! The nature of the taste changed to that of fresh blueberries.The blueberry flavor is brighter and more natural tasting.
 
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I noticed what a difference a little lemon makes when I was making blueberry topping for cheesecake. I tasted it as I was cooking it and it tasted good. Then I added the lemon and WOW! The nature of the taste changed to that of fresh blueberries.The blueberry flavor is brighter and more natural tasting.

Thanks.:yum:

seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
I did some Googling because I seemed to remember that cornstarch isn't the best thickener for anything acid. Well from Food and Foodstuff - pH Values blueberries are fairly acid, pH of 3.1 - 3.4. From a number of other sites arrowroot and tapioca are suggested for something that acid. Those thickeners will also hold up better in the freezer, in case you want to freeze some of the pie.
 
Cornstarch will gel better in a pie than flour.

I usually make my pie a day ahead of time and let it chill. If I'm going to serve warm, I'll pop slices in the microwave.

Fruit pies are tricky. Getting a filling that doesn't run, but not too thick is a pain.

I've started making blueberry filling in a saucepan and putting that in the pie. If it thickens in the pan, it'll hold up in the pie. With the juices already thickened it'll help prevent soggy bottom.

Sent from my XT1080 using Discuss Cooking mobile app
That's how we always make our blueberry pie--we cook the filling first, reserving about 1 c of fresh blueberries that are tossed with seasoned flour (cinnamon, lemon zest, a bit of sugar) and sprinkle those on top of the filling. Don't know why we do that, that's the way my grandma made wild blueberry pie and that's the way my mom made it and that's the way I make blueberry pie.
 
There is a restaurant in Bar Harbor Maine that has my favorite blueberry pie, I have no idea if they make it in house or not. It has a filling that is thick, but not gelatinous, just thick enough to not be runny. The crust is perfection, flaky, not crumbly that flakes apart when you pierce it with a fork. Even Rob who isn't the biggest blueberry fan gets it when we go there.

Just went to their site and it does look like they make it there.
 
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Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!

bakechef recently posted about a blueberry pie recipe from ATK that he made and recommended.
I went and got the recipe. Blueberries on sale $0.99/pint. Bought the tapioca, the apple and a lemon. Ready to go.

Chilled the fats for the crust as directed. Measured the vodka and chilled that. Got out the FP and mixed the dry ingredients and fats as instructed. So far so good. Added the vodka and water and started to fold it in to the dough. Seemed kinda wet so I checked the recipe.

Some brain dead idiot carefully measured 1/4 cup of vodka and another of water. Sadly it wasn't until it was too late that I realized 1/4 cup is 2 ounces and not 4 ounces. I had added double the called for liquid.

Oh, well. Tomorrow will be a better day.
 

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