Two Little Blueberry Pies

Blueberry Pie // The Sugar Hit

 

Blueberry Pie is what I imagine every cartoon pie cooling on a windowsill to taste like. It’s the exact right combination of pure, sweet berry flavour, and buttery, flaky crust that my childhood imagination conjured up and salivated over.

 

I was so jealous of Yogi bear for all the pies that he stole, which is weird because you wouldn’t think there’d be that many pies in a National Park, but I guess he was just lucky.

 

Blueberry Pie // The Sugar Hit

 

I think I’ve made my thoughts on this clear before, but I’m staunchly in the pie camp when it comes to the old ‘cake vs. pie’ debate. I love you cake, but it’s pie for me every time.

 

The pastry, the delicious, oozing fillings, the mandatory scoop of ice cream. Plus, there’s the fact that in my neck of the woods pies are hard to come by. More often than not, if I want to eat pie, I’ll be making it myself.

 

Blueberry Pie // The Sugar Hit

 

As a result, I really don’t feel all that stressed about pie-making. It’s time consuming, and a bit fiddly, but there is literally no such thing as an ugly pie. The smell is like pharamones – it blinds you to any shortcomings that might be visually obvious, because you are overwhelmed by the irresistibly tantalising aroma.

 

Anyway, when did we start needing everything to be perfect? I like a pie that looks a little ramshackle, and I like a cake that’s messily slathered in frosting. I want to see some greedy joy in these masterpieces.

 

Blueberry Pie // The Sugar Hit

 

So tell me, are you a piefectionist? Or are you scared to bake a pie because you’re worried it might be wonky? If you are, these little’uns are a great place to start. Working with smaller pieces of pastry is a lot easier than big sheets of the stuff.

 

But either way, I encourage you to get stuck in and make one. If anyone turns their nose up at a pie, even if it’s ugly as hell, then they just don’t deserve to eat it. More pie for us!

 

xx Sarah.

 

Blueberry Pie // The Sugar Hit

Two Little Blueberry Pies
 
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the crust:
  • 1 + ½ cups (325g) plain flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 stick (115g) butter, cut into cubes
  • ⅓ cup water
For the filling:
  • 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch (cornflour)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • juice of ½ a lemon
  • Optional" 1 egg, beaten, to glaze the pie
Instructions
  1. To make the crust, place all the ingredients into a large bowl, or a food processor or stand mixer.
  2. Rub the butter into the flour until most of the flour looks like breadcrumbs, with some larger flakes of butter throughout (or pulse a few times, or mix on a low speed with the paddle attachment, to achieve the same result).
  3. Slowly add the water, and work the mixture, just until it looks like it's about to come together. You may not need all the water. Then using your hands, shape it into a disk and wrap it in clingwrap and put it in the fridge to chill.
  4. To make the filling, place 1 cup of the blueberries along with the remaining ingredients into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and cook for about a minute, or until the mixture is very thick. Remove from the heat and add the remaining blueberries. Set aside to cool.
  5. When you're ready to bake the pies, preheat the oven to 375F/180C. Remove the pastry from the fridge, and roll it out, to about ⅛ inch (1/2 cm) thickness.
  6. Using your pie dish, or small pie dishes as a mold, cut pieces of pastry large enough to line the bases of your dish(es), and place the pastry into the dishes.
  7. Re-roll the scraps and cut out strips for the lids. Divide the filling between your lined dishes, and then decorate the tops with your leftover pastry, however you like. Glaze with the beaten egg, if using.
  8. Bake the pies for 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling, and then leave to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
 

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