Blueberries—whether freshly picked or the convenient frozen kind available year-round—are a beloved staple in American kitchens. They show up in muffins, tarts, ice cream, breads, and, my personal favorite, blueberry pie.
Pie has been enjoying a resurgence in popularity. Like cupcakes before them, individual pies and creative pie shops are appearing with a wide range of sweet and savory flavors. For many, pie has returned as an accessible, comforting dessert option.
Part of pie’s renewed appeal likely stems from a wider craving for comfort food in challenging times. When people face financial or emotional stress they often seek familiar flavors that remind them of simpler days. As a result, high-end restaurants are bringing comfort dishes like meatloaf, chicken pot pie, and mac and cheese onto their menus, while the internet overflows with recipes and searches for classic homey foods. In stressful moments we tend to reach for straightforward, satisfying dishes.
Despite its popularity, baking a pie can intimidate home cooks. Memories of past disasters—especially during major holidays—can make the idea of attempting a perfect pie feel daunting. Many of us have had our share of pie mishaps, so a little nervousness is understandable.
Basket of Freshly Picked Blueberries
I’ll never forget one Thanksgiving when a tiny, enthusiastic helper turned my pie plans upside down. My mother and I were knee-deep in preparations and put our youngest guest to work to keep her busy. She was surprisingly efficient and by the time we reached desserts, all that remained were the pies.
Dessert was usually my responsibility; I had handled holiday baking since my teens and felt confident. With a chatty little assistant, however, I became flustered. One by one the pies went into the oven. Just before placing the final two pumpkin pies inside, I realized I had forgotten the milk for the filling. Remembering a trick my grandmother used, my mother and I blended the milk in gently with our fingers to avoid damaging the crust. It wasn’t ideal, but it saved the pies.
Dinner was a success, the table laden with food and conversation. When it came time for dessert, though, not everything behaved as expected. The pecan pies were dryer and firmer than usual—I had left out most of the butter in the filling. Remarkably, the guests didn’t notice and that mistake led me to a lighter pecan pie that later won blue-ribbon praise.
The worst surprise was the cherry pie. The crust looked picture-perfect, but when I cut into it the filling poured out like a soup. In the chaos I had forgotten to add the flour to thicken the cherries. Quick thinking saved the day: we spooned the runny cherry filling over scoops of vanilla ice cream, propped a piece of crust on top and served impromptu cherry sundaes. The solution was a hit and earned appreciative applause.
The takeaway: don’t let the fear of mistakes keep you from baking pies. Be prepared to improvise. Most guests will appreciate the effort, and sometimes accidents lead to delicious discoveries.
Jane’s Tips and Hints:
Practice is the best teacher when it comes to pie dough and baking in general. Even experienced bakers benefit from a rehearsal pie before a contest or special event. Familiarity with how dough looks and feels improves results, and your family will happily volunteer as practice tasters.
Kitchen Skill: How to Correctly Measure Flour
Weighing flour is the most accurate method, since milling differences can change flour density. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, lighten compacted flour by fluffing it with a spoon or whisk. Then use a spoon to scoop flour into a straight-sided dry measuring cup until heaped, and level it off with a knife for an accurate measure.
- 1 recipe Plain Pie Pastry or Perfect Pie Crust (see recipes below)
- 6 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (thawed and drained if using frozen)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk, for egg wash
- Line a 9-inch pie plate with one rolled-out crust and chill for 30 minutes. Put the blueberries in a bowl, add the lemon juice, and stir to coat.
- Combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon, mix thoroughly and stir into the blueberries. Spread the filling in the crust, scatter the butter over the top, brush the rim with egg wash, cover with the second crust, and seal and flute the edges.
- Chill the pie until firm, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Brush the top crust with egg wash and cut two perpendicular steam vents. Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes, then reduce to 350°F and bake 30–40 minutes more, until juices bubble and crust is golden.
- Cool on a wire rack at least 2 hours before slicing, then chill until ready to serve. Serve chilled or warm.
- Yield: 1 (9-inch) pie
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup vegetable shortening
- 5 to 7 tbsp cold milk
- Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Cut in shortening until pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of milk over part of the mixture, toss gently, and repeat until all the flour is moistened.
- Press the dough into two equal balls and flatten into disks. Roll out immediately or wrap tightly and refrigerate up to two weeks.
- On a floured surface roll each disk to 1/8-inch thickness, handling the dough as little as possible.
- Makes 2 (9-inch) pie crusts
- 4-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 12 oz (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup water with ice (strain ice before using)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (fruit pies) or almond extract (nut pies)
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- To use a mixer: Mix flour, salt, and sugar with a paddle attachment for 1 minute. Add butter and mix until the mixture is sandy with visible large pieces of butter.
- Combine water, extract, and vinegar. With the mixer on medium, drizzle in the liquid and mix until the dough just forms a ball, leaving medium bits of butter.
- Divide dough in half, flatten into disks, wrap, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Thaw frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight before rolling.
- To use a food processor: Pulse dry ingredients with half the butter until fine, add remaining butter and pulse, then add water and pulse just until incorporated. Pat into disks and chill 30 minutes.
- Lightly flour the dough and rolling pin. Roll outward from the center in light strokes, rotating the dough frequently. If it warms, chill 15 minutes. Roll to about 15 inches for a 9-inch pie pan.
- Roll the dough onto the pin and ease into the pie plate without stretching. Trim to 1 inch beyond the pan edge. For single-crust pies, fold the overhang to even the edge and chill 20 minutes before filling. Bake as directed.
- Yield: 2 (9-inch) pie crusts.
- If making a two-crust pie: Do not trim the bottom crust edge. Ease the top crust over the filling, press edges together, trim to 1 inch beyond the pan, flute, cut vents, and bake as directed.
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