“I remember days like this when my father took me to the forest and we ate wild blueberries” Why yes, that is a deleted scene from Conan the Barbarian that inspired this pie, thank you for asking. Every time Will or I have blueberries you have to say ‘wild blueberries’ in an Arnie voice. If you make this pie, I hope you’ll do the same.
After my cherry pie I knew I wanted to do a blueberry pie, but mix it up with a crumble top instead of a lattice. While I love how a lattice looks, it is finicky to do (especially in Summer when the butter melts so fast in the dough!) and does make the whole process a bit longer. A crumble top is lighting quick but still gives you that good crunch factor when you’re finally eating your slice of pie! I then took out half of the butter from the pie dough and replaced it with cream cheese, a little trick I saw by Erin Jeanne McDowell (who has a new pie book coming out this year which looks incredible!) Finally, the filling is cooked in a mixture of maple syrup and water. Fruit fillings can be super runny, so by cooking it down with syrup we can break down the fruits and boil off some of that extra juice.
Tips & FAQs
Unlike other baking recipes, we want all of our pie dough ingredients to be super cold! Any time the butter or cream cheese gets too warm and melty, you can pop it back into the fridge.
When I roll out my pie dough I like to do 1 roll out, fold it back into itself like an envelope, then put it back in the fridge (wrapped in clingfilm) for another 10-15 minutes. I then do the 2nd and final roll out.
I add baking soda to the pie dough to help stop shrinkage! Nothing sadder than taking out your baked pie and finding the sides have shrunk (which can also happen with over kneading your dough)
Love pie? Try these recipes!
Wild Blueberry Pie
Equipment
- 9-inch pie dish
Ingredients
Pie Dough – Makes one single pie crust
- 150 grams all purpose flour
- 10 grams cake flour
- ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- pinch salt
- 57 grams cold cream cheese, cubed
- 56 grams cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 45 grams ice water
Blueberry Pie Filling
- 950 grams blueberries
- 118 grams maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 28 grams lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 48 grams cornstarch
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 50 grams light brown sugar
- 28 grams unsalted butter, melted
Cinnamon Crumble
- 100 grams all purpose flour
- 35 grams granulated sugar
- 35 grams light brown sugar
- 75 grams unsalted butter, room temp
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Pie Crust
- In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, and salt.
- Add cubed butter and cream cheese. Toss the butter and cream cheese with the flour, making sure every cube is coated in flour. Then, using your fingers, smoosh them so they break into smaller pieces. Continue tossing and smooshing until the cubes are the size of walnut halves.
- Make a well in the centre and add the water. Toss the mixture so it gets evenly hydrated. You can knead a little bit so it comes together. If the dough is too dry (you'll know this if there are still large cracks once you've kneaded it into a ball), dip your fingers in ice water and knead a little bit more.
- Wrap in clingfilm and shape into a disc. Keep in fridge for at least 3 hours, though I do mine the evening before.
Make filling
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the berries with maple syrup and 50 grams of water. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down so it simmers. Stir often, until the fruit breaks down and the juice is thick and syrupy (about 30 minutes).
- Take the pan off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
- Line a baking tray with foil (to catch any juices!) and preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C.
- On a floured surface, roll out your pie dough to be at least 2 inches larger than your pie dish. Place into your dish and then put it in the fridge to keep cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk the sugars, cornstarch, spices and salt until no lumps remain. Add the cooled berries, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla and butter. Fold all together.
- Take your pie dish out of the fridge and crimp the edges as desired. Pour the filling into the pan and put back in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, while you make your crumble topping.
Crumble Topping
- Add flour, sugars and cinnamon to a medium bowl. Cube your room temperature butter and using your fingers, rub the butter with the dry mixture. Keep doing this until it resembles coarse sand.
Finish pie!
- Take pie dish out of fridge and sprinkle the crumble topping on.
- Put dish on foil lined baking tray and bake for 55-65 minutes. At around the 45 minute mark I put foil on top of the pie so the crust and crumble doesn't burn. You'll know the pie is down when you can see the juices bubbling.
- Let the pie cool completely, around 3 hours. If you don't wait that long then your filling might not set!
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