Black and Blueberry Pie

This B&B pie has elicited a lot of talk about its juiciness and what went wrong.  Listening to everyone's thoughts and baking methods, I took Rose's advice and tweaked the process just slightly.

The end result....

A beautiful pie that tastes great!  Every bit of its deliciousness made it onto my fork and into my mouth, instead of swimming around the plate.  Thus keeping me from the unseemly desire to lick my plate.  ;)  I know we've all been there, the dish is so good, you don't want it to end, so you find yourself looking around... and wondering...would anyone notice just one quick lick?  LOL

Thank you Ruth for saving me from such a social faux pas!

Seriously though, this pie is pretty straightforward.  The crust has a few steps I wouldn't usually take, but preserving it's flakiness by keeping everything as cool as possible is top priority.  Rose recommends using the food processor first and transferring the mealy mixture into a plastic bag for final kneading.  I'm honestly not sure if I'll do this all the time, as I prefer to place it between two sheets of parchment, but I did try it out, and it works just as well.

 




All the talk about the over abundance of juice from the frozen berries prompted me to take Rose's advice and concentrate the juice.  This consisted of tossing the berries in the sugar and lemon juice, and placing them in a colander over a bowl.  After collecting the juice, it's heated and reduced on the stove and then poured over the berries that have since been mixed with cornstarch and given time to absorb it.  It sounds like a long process, but it really only took about 10 minutes; so don't let this process scare you away from such a good pie.

BTW, need some lemons?  I've got about 50 from my tree.  It's been so good to me!  I'm freezing the juice and trying to decide if it's better to freeze, or dehydrate the zest.  Any advice??

 



The only thing left to do was figure out what I wanted the top to look like.  Rose provides a few recommendations, but anything you want, is really ok.

Unfortunately, I placed the metal ring to protect the crust on waaaay to early.  I think it heated the dough up too much, too early and caused the edge of the crust to flatten out.  :(

See the difference:

Despite the flat crust, the pie is great! 

An important number to remember this week is 212!  

That is...212 degrees Fahrenheit.  It's the temp required to activate the cornstarch added to thicken the berry mixture.

Now, off to get ready for next weeks baking.  It sounds like a doozer!  Wish me luck.  

Prep for this kitchen redo is killing me lately.  The good news: it's pushed back by two weeks, the bad news: it gives me more time to be indecisive about countertops and the sink color....