Bluebonic Pie

Saucyman – What should I do so the blueberries don’t get all mushy in my pie? – Piholden

There are 3 things you can do to prevent the fresh blueberries from turning into a jelly-like consistency as you bake your pie. First, you need to do is check the recipe you’re using. I know, nothing is more reliable than something randomly found on the internet, but in this instance maybe, possibly you might want work from a book. And not just any book, but a reliable, recently published cookbook. Food styles change constantly, what passed for fine dining in my 1971 edition of the Culinary Arts Institute’s Cookbook – canned blueberries mixed in to a very thick Beurre manié (flour and butter combined as an uncooked roux) then baked - that recipe would never pass muster today. Granted in that era there were ashtrays on the tables of these places but still. Fundamentally the instructions are sound but the recipe would produce a fruit flavored brick that would embarrass a Hostess Fruit Pie with its lack of subtlety.

Not quite as retrograde, the 90’s version of the Joy of Cooking recommends 4 Tablespoons of cornstarch or instant tapioca (per 5 cups of berries). While both substances help thicken liquids, they aren’t interchangeable and 4 Tablespoons of either is a lot. Granted the Joy is a workhorse, the Toyota Camry of Kitchen References – It’s not gonna win a drag race and it's not much of a looker but it is going to work every time you use it. 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch is more than enough and even a little less tapioca will get the job done.

Bake the pie pastry sans filling or blind as the kids say and cook the blueberry filling on the stovetop. Many people claim the assembling of components is somehow not real baking but I never quite understand that argument – If the blueberries cook quicker than the pastry, how are you going to work around that? Divorce the filling from the crust - cook the bottom part of the pastry weighted down with pie weights, roll the top of the pie out into a thin, quick-to-cook veneer. While waiting for the bottom of crust to bake, combine ¼ of the berries, all the sugar and starch in a pan, heat until they come together, remove from heat, fold in the remaining berries. When the shell is starting to brown after 20 minutes, remove the weights – fill with berries, cover with the top pastry and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.

Mostly, though I wouldn’t cook a traditional pie. I would go with a blueberry tart. Line a tart pan with a pâté sucrée (sweet crust), shortbread or straight up piecrust and bake. Fill the baked tart with a pastry cream, Cream Anglaise, mascarpone, yogurt, lemon curd, sweetened cream cheese – lightened with 1/3 of a cup of chantilly whip cream and top with fresh uncooked blueberries…For what is the point of seasonal fresh fruit if you can’t show it in all its glory?