Wild Blueberry Streusel Pie
This summer my partner and I took a drive to Woodstock Vermont and later that day crossed into New Hampshire to visit her stepsister and her husband. Upon our arrival we were given a tour of the house, and I spied a large bowl of beautiful wild blueberries on the kitchen table, picked from bushes just outside the window. The berries were later turned into a fabulous blueberry crisp, which was the ending of a delicious paella dinner.
Several weeks later we were guests of dear friends on the island of VinalHaven, Maine. In the kitchen of their lovely home, I once again spotted a bowl of wild blueberries, and once again these morphed into an excellent blueberry crisp dessert.
As we were heading out of Rockland on the drive home, I spotted several road side stands selling wild blueberries. With a (very) long drive ahead of us, I didn’t stop, but it piqued my interest and as I drove two things came to mind. One, I wanted to know this history of these little gems and two, I wanted to bake something with them other than a crisp.
Wild blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) are indigenous to our northern New England states, particularly Maine and also eastern Canada, where they have grown naturally for thousands of years. The wild berries have a more intense and sweeter flavor than “regular†cultivated blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum). This flavor profile combined with the fact that wild blueberries maintain their shape when baking, making them ideal for pies, crisps, and cobblers.
I decided on a single-crust wild blueberry pie, but where to get wild berries? I had no recollection of seeing them in my usual Westchester food haunts, and was a little bummed at not stopping at the roadside stands. Then, as luck would have it, a few days after returning from Maine, I walked into my local Whole Foods and saw a display of wild blueberries.
Back home, I pulled out some out some old classic cookbooks for ideas – The Fannie Farmer Baking Book and The Joy of Cooking, along with a newer find – Pies and Tarts (Culinary Institute of America). Taking ideas from each, I experimented a bit, and on the 2nd try, voila – Wild Blueberry Streusel Pie.
Wild Blueberry Streusel Pie
| Yield: 1 9-inch pie | # of Servings: 8 | Method: Basic fruit pie |
Ingredients:
Streusel
- 1 cup (4.65 oz / 132 g) all-purpose flour
- â…” cup (4.75 oz / 135 g) sugar
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 8 tbl (4 oz / 113 g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
Filling
6 cups wild blueberries, picked through, rinsed, and dried
¾ cup less 1 tsp (5.2 oz / 148 g) sugar
3 tbl (1.1 oz / 31 g) cornstarch
¼ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
Tools and equipment needed:
- 1 9†pie pan1
- Mixing bowls, large and small.
- Dry measuring cups, liquid measuring cup, measuring spoon set, scale, plastic spatula or large kitchen spoon, pastry blender
- Baking sheet, dark colored if available.
Directions:
Streusel:
- Combine the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, or your fingers, cut the butter into the mixture until the butter pieces are broken up and appears as coarse crumbs.
- Place in refrigerator until needed.
Pie shell:
- Take P¢te Bris©e out of the refrigerator and let it rest on counter for 20 to 30 minutes.
- On a flour dusted work surface, roll out to a ⅛†thick, 13†diameter circle.
- Roll the dough around the rolling pin and drape over the pie dish, pressing into the edges of the bottom of the pan.
- Form a lip of pastry dough on the top edge and crimp.
- Place the pie pan in the refrigerator.
Filling and baking:
- Preheat oven to 375 °F
- Put baking sheet in oven2
- Place blueberries in large mixing bowl.
- In small bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and the salt.
- Pour over blueberries, and gently toss.
- Add lemon zest and lemon rind, mix gently to combine.
- Pour into unbaked pie shell.
- Spread the streusel evenly over the top.
- Place the pie on the pre-heated baking pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling the streusel is lightly browned.
- Remove from oven to a cooling rack. Serve at room temperature.
Notes:
1 Pyrex pie pans are my favorite for this and other pies. A standard 9-inch Pyrex pan has a 9 ¾â€ exterior top diameter, 9†interior top diameter, and a depth of 1 ½â€
2 Preheating the baking sheet helps the bottom crust cook.
