Greedy Girl : Blueberry-nut pie

3.14

This month its all about that round crust, filled with goodness and baked to perfection. As a child my mother made pies every single Sunday; lemon meringue to be exact, that was beautiful and toasted. I’m sitting here thinking that she was wonder woman. Get three kids ready for church, go to church, come home and cook dinner, which included freshly juiced carrot juice and a lemon meringue pie? Its no wonder she hates cooking now! I guess its my turn to take the baton.

She adored this pie, she could not stop telling me how delicious it was. We are a house of women who love berries, but blueberries is not the easiest thing to get in a large portion fresh in Jamaica, without paying an arm and a leg. It’s much cheaper to buy frozen. However, I would suggest using fresh blueberries, even though in this recipe I used frozen. I just made sure to wash and let them completely defrost and almost get to room temperature to avoid excess water. I think when you use fresh berries the consistency is a bit different. The frozen berries for me have more of a jammy thicker and deeper blueberry flavor. Fresh berries tend to be lighter in taste and more runny, but that’s just my opinion. Whether frozen or fresh this pie works.

As for the nuts, as per usual, I use whatever I have in my pantry, the day I made this pie, it turned out to be almonds and cashews. I blended them fine and incorporated them with oatmeal, flour and the works to create a nutty cinnamon streusel

When it comes to pie design Instagram is just a mecca of inspiration. I like when pies are ornately decorated yet you can still see what the filling is. I have been looking at all the pie decorating greats online and deciding what’s my own style of pie design. I think I’m more of a “catch all” kinda pie gal. Meaning, I like a combination of patterns and textures. I hated the idea of any leftover pie dough from the edges going unused since I had planned on a streusel topping. I figured there are no rules that I can’t use both, so I did. This way I would use the crust braided and in stripes as a boarder and fill in the gaps with the streusel, and leave some gaps open for the fruit filling can ooze through.

The way you decorate your pie is all up to you. The most important thing is to have fun. Because at the end of the day, no matter what the pie looks like, it’s all going to taste the same.

Ingredients (printable recipe)

2 prepared pie crusts

For the filling

5 cup frozen or fresh berries

1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

¼ cup flour

1 pinch salt

For the topping

½ cup almonds

½ cup cashews

2/3 cup brown sugar

½ cup flour

¾ cup oatmeal

1 tablespoon cinnamon

6 tablespoon soft butter

Egg wash

1 egg

¼ cup milk

Brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Roll out the bottom pie crust and place in a pie dish, cut off any excess edges. I made mine in a tart pan and cut off the edges
With the top pie crust cut into equal ¼ inch (or less) thick strips and braid the 6 longest pieces in the center into three braids, keep the other pieces as strips
Place all the crusts in the in the refrigerator to keep cool

For the streusel topping

Blend together the almonds and cashews into bread crumb sized pieces
In a bowl combine the cashews, almonds, brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, cinnamon and soft room temp butter
Mix together until all the ingredients absorb the butter and turn into a crumble

For the fruit filling and assembly

In a bowl combine the blueberry, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt
Stir and combine
Fill the bottom pie crust with fruit filling, but set aside 4 – 5 single berries
Place the braided pieces in an equal triangle framing the center, place the other strips along the edges parallel to the outside of the triangle
Place a bottle cap in the center fill the open gaps with streusel, packing it in tightly and pushing it down
Make sure not to get the streusel on the crust
Remove the bottle cap from the center and place the 4-5 berries in its place
Beat the egg and milk together and brush the crust sprinkle with sugar and bake for an hour
After about 30 minutes I rest a piece of foil over top lightly just to prevent the top from over browning
Remove from the oven after an hour and allow to completely cool for 5 hours before slicing
This allows it to set. Overnight is best but at least 5 hours

Greedy tips:

see the link here for a good pie crust
If you use frozen berries make sure to wash and defrost them (naturally don’t heat) and pat very dry
Using fresh berries just wash and dry