Blueberry Glace' Pie

My mum asked me to post this recipe, but first I had to make the pie and take a picture!

This is quite frankly, the most amazing blueberry pie ever created. Why is it so good? Most blueberry pies get cooked in the oven and the berries are reduced to a mushy mess.
This blueberry pie only cooks 1/4 of the berries to make a glaze. The rest of the berries are never cooked; they are fresh and whole and burst open in your mouth when you eat them. Think caviar in dessert form!

For this pie, I used wild blueberries--they were delicious and kept their shape well, but the little critters are so tiny and had so many stems on them that it seemed to take hours to de-stem and de-leaf them all. So, cultivated blueberries will be better for the "destemming." If possible, pick these berries the day you make the pie; you won't believe how fresh and good they are!

Also, this time around I tried a sweetened tart shell rather than a pie crust. It was too heavy a flavor for the pie, so I'll definitely use a traditional crust next time.


Blueberry Glace' Pie
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon freshley squeezed lemon juice
4 cups fresh blueberries
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
pinch salt

1 prebaked 9" pie shell

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 Tablespoon confectioners sugar

1) Mix the cornstarch, 2 Tablespoons of water and lemon juice together in a small bowl and stir until the cornstarch has been thoroughly dissolved.
2) Place the 1 cup of blueberries and the remaining water in a medium sized saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Cook until berries begin to pop--about 4 minutes. Add cornstarch mixture along with the butter, sugar, and salt. Cook, stirring until the mixture is thick and clear (about 2 minutes.) Remove pan from heat.
3) Fold remaining 3 cups of berries into the cooked berry mixture and pour into a prebaked pieshell. Refrigerate at least 2 hours but no more than 4.

Whip cream right before serving, gradually adding sugar. Spread cream over top or serve on side.

Blackberries

One of the most beautiful sights in the world is blackberries ripening and the sun just coming up and striking them. I wish my photos could do them justice! They look like jewels!

The other great joy is making them into jam, pies and crisps and eating them. I know that these berries don't quite have a magical flavor of those grown in the Northwest, or other places with acidic soils--but they are pretty wonderful---and they are growing abundantly in the back yard!












Blackberry Pie:
4 cups fresh (or frozen) berries
1 1/2 cups sugar (less if the berries are very sweet)
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 T butter
Pastry for 9" pie.

Mix the dry ingredients, add the berries, put in the pie, top with the butter cut in small pieces. Top with the top crust, crimp edges. Brush top with milk and sprinkle with a tiny bit of sugar. Bake at 425 for 35-45 minutes. Put a cookie sheet under the pan the last 15 minutes to save the oven.

Berry Crisp:

5 cups fruit
2-4 T sugar (Or to taste)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg or cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped nuts or coconut

Put fruit in 2 quart baking dish, sprinkle with sugar.

Mix dry ingredeints, cut in butter until like coarse crumbs. Add nuts. Sprinkle ove the fruit.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until fruit is tender and topping golden.
Serve warm with ice cream

(I've used this recipe on rhubarb and other fruits and it has given me a reputation of being a great cook!)

Jam: follow the recipe in the pectin package--forget about cutting the sugar, just put it all in and enjoy.

To freeze the fresh berries: Wash, drain, put on a waxed paper covered cookie sheet and put in the freezer for a few hours. Using the waxed paper gather them up and put them into a plastic bag (without the waxed paper),and return to the freezer--quickly so they don't melt and stick together. This way they are easy to measure for future recipes.