This blueberry pie recipe features a delicious berry filling encased in a golden lattice puff pastry crust. Here are the hacks for the best cake ever!
Is there a more quintessential summer dessert than Cranberry cake? It tastes like backyard cookouts and the 4th of July, Grandma’s bake sale, and lazy summer afternoons. There’s no better way to use up a bunch of fresh berries than to bake them into this classic cake. This blueberry pie recipe is something special: it has a thick, luscious berry filling and a buttery, golden lattice crust. Here’s how to make a foolproof blueberry pie that will have everyone coming running!
Ingredients in this Blueberry Pie Recipe
Blueberry pie is as classic as they come here in the US, though of course a good apple or cherry pie comes close! This is a celebration of summer, with a thick, sweet filling that’s best eaten on the back porch with some melted vanilla ice cream. Like most cakes, it’s a bit of a project: but it’s worth every minute. We’ve fool-proofed this recipe so you don’t end up with a gooey mess: it always comes out perfectly golden brown with a thick filling. This is what you will need:
- 1 homemade pie crust recipe (2 crusts, or your favorite recipe)
- fresh blueberries
- Sugar
- Cornstarch
- Maple syrup
- lemon juice and zest
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Eggfor beaten egg
- turbocharged sugarto sprinkle
The trick to a foolproof blueberry pie
Have you ever baked a cake, only to end up with a runny filling that collapses when you cut into it? Fruitcake fillings can vary depending on the ripeness of the specific fruit you use. Blueberries are about 85% water, which is activated when the fruit is heated. We had a few test pies that came out completely runny, so we came up with a solution: pre-bake the filling! This way, it comes out perfectly set every time. Here are some tips:
- Precook the filling with cornstarch for 5 to 6 minutes. Cooking the filling gives it time to interact with the cornstarch, making a thick, sticky filling. Cook it long enough for the cornstarch to activate, but not long enough for the fruit texture to start to disintegrate.
- Let the filling cool while you make the crust. If the filling is too hot, it can heat the top of the pie, which can cause the butter to melt. Making the filling first gives it time to cool.
- Cool the cake completely for 2 hours, then refrigerate before serving. This is the most important step, allowing the filling to fully set after baking.
Can you use frozen blueberries?
Want to use frozen berries instead of fresh? Pastels are the perfect place to do it! Frozen blueberries can bleed into the batter of baked goods like muffins and breads, causing them to turn purple! But frozen berries work wonderfully here, especially since the filling is cooked before baking.
Tips for Homemade Pie Crust
What makes this blueberry pie? Homemade pie crust recipe! It’s so much tastier than store-bought dough and an important baking skill that’s fun to master. Here are some tips and tricks that make this a standout pie crust:
- Use Irish butter if you can find it. Irish butter has a higher fat content and less water than American butter. It gives baked goods a richer flavor and flakier texture, which is the absolute best for pie crust! The most popular brand of Irish butter is Kerrygold, which is easy to find in most grocery stores.
- Keeping the pie crust cold is essential. Add ice water to the crust when you make the dough to make sure the butter doesn’t melt. Then, refrigerate the pie crust for 1 hour before rolling it out. This allows the gluten to relax and the fat to firm up, making it flakier and helping it hold its shape.
- When rolling, lift the dough up and rotate it from time to time so it doesn’t stick. Generously flour your work surface and rolling pin. Make a circle as perfect as possible. If it starts to stick, sprinkle with a little more flour and turn the dough.
- Weave the trellis. The lattice top makes the cake! If you’ve never knitted a lattice pattern before, use this video tutorial to guide you.
Use an egg wash!
To get the best golden finish for this blueberry pie crust, we recommend an egg wash. It makes a gold foil exterior and gives a nice gold sheen to the surface. Beat 1 egg, then brush it over the exposed crust with a pastry brush. Then dust with crunchy turbinado sugar for a shimmery finish.
serving blueberry pie
The most important thing to remember about blueberry pie? Be sure to chill it for at least 2 hours, then refrigerate until serving! This helps firm up the filling so you can cut a perfect slice.
Once ready to serve, let the cake rest for about 20-30 minutes to warm back up to room temperature (unless you like your cake cold!). It’s great with a scoop of homemade whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
More cake recipes
Do you love baking cakes? Here are some of our favorite classic cake recipes:
This blueberry pie recipe is…
Vegetarian.
Description
This blueberry pie recipe features a delicious berry filling encased in a golden lattice puff pastry crust. Here are the hacks for the best cake ever!
- 1 Homemade cake base recipe (2 scabs; or use your favorite recipe)
- 6 cups fresh blueberries (or frozen substitutes)
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons Maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon grated lemon
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 egg, for beaten egg
- Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
- Make the homemade pie crust. Chill the dough for 1 hour (or up to 24 hours).
- Meanwhile, combine the cranberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, maple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt in a saucepan and heat over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thick. . Transfer cranberries and sauce to a bowl and chill at least 30 minutes, until batter is set.
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Place a rack in the lower third of the oven with a rimmed baking sheet covered with foil to preheat.
- Grease a standard 9” pie pan.
- Sprinkle flour on a clean work surface. (Or if you have a pastry cloth, lay it out and dust it with flour.) Dust a rolling pin with flour. Place one ball of dough on your work surface and gently roll it out evenly from center to edge, until dough is about ⅛-inch thick. Scoop up the dough and turn it occasionally as you work, keeping as perfect a circle as possible and making sure it doesn’t stick to the work surface. If it sticks, sprinkle with a little more flour. Roll the dough into a 12-inch-wide circle (corresponding to the 9-inch circle on a pastry sheet). Visible chunks of butter are to be expected – that’s what makes it flaky!
- Gently pipe the dough onto the rolling pin, then transfer to the prepared pie plate. Gently center and push the dough toward the bottom of the pan.
- Let the 1-inch overhanging dough cover the edge. Fill the dough with the blueberries and sauce and place the entire tray in the freezer while you roll out the next dough.
- Roll out the second ball of dough. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into 1-inch strips. Remove the cake from the freezer and make a lattice pattern using the strips (see this video for a demonstration). Use kitchen shears to cut off the excess strips, then fold the dough over the top and fold the edges in with a fork.
- Beat the egg in a small bowl, then brush the top of the lattice and crust with the beaten egg using a pastry brush. Sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar.
- Place cake directly on foil-lined preheated baking sheet. Bake immediately for 15 minutes (at 425°F). Leaving the pie in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for 60 minutes, until golden brown and the filling has small bubbles. Check at 40 minutes and if necessary add a foil tent if the crust is already very golden.
- Let cool at least 2 hours, then refrigerate until ready to serve. Bring to room temperature before serving.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Kitchen: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Keywords: blueberry pie, blueberry pie recipe
