Sky-High Blueberry Pie

“Live Colorfully”  - Kate Spade

            I love getting mani/pedis. There I said it. There was a time that I didn’t get mani/pedis because I thought I wasn’t “that kind of girl.” I also never tried meditation (of which, I am now a die-hard fan) because I can get a little angry, a little tense, a little overly-organized, and I figured that if it ever came up in conversation, people would be shocked that I did that because, well, I wasn’t that kind of girl either.
            But recently, I was talking with a friend named Kristen about how people try to define themselves in the smallest terms. Like, when you’re introducing a friend and you say: “this is so-and-so, she makes incredible scarves.” Obviously, one would hope that so-and-so is a lot more than just her incredible scarf making skills, but sometimes we (or at least, I) define ourselves in that same sort of one-dimensional way, and that can make our self-scope really small. This is especially true if we define ourselves by using the “not that kind of girl” type of definition. That phrase closes us off from a million things that could actually be totally us.
            What does this have to do with blueberry pie? Well, when you define yourself by only a few things, those things can become overly precious to you. For example, defining myself as someone who baked, I would actually find myself getting offended when other people decided to share their own homemade sweets. I’d hear my inner voice saying, “But I’M the baker.” Well, yeah, I bake, but other people are obviously allowed to share my passion, or even just a mild interest, and, I’m hardly THE baker at all.
            Also, I realized that I probably wouldn’t get as jealous if I opened myself to not being boxed in by definitions and allowing myself to try new things, open myself up to also being “Dani: the girl who goes rock climbing.”
            Anyway, while I was baking this pie, I thought about how many awesome things had happened or had been made or experienced or I had seen that I had wanted to share with you, my readers. But, I had decided against it because I had told myself that this was just a baking blog, in other words, it wasn’t “that kind of blog.” Well, no more. Zen & Sugar is expanding! Obviously, it will stay with it’s roots and continue to provide awesome baking recipes, but just as I am trying to let myself grow and experience things and try to find out exactly what kind of person I am (if that’s even possible, since no one is ever truly done) so, too, will this blog! It’s growing to include lots of awesome things, such as recipes, craft ideas, etc! I hope you’ll stick with me for the journey to see exactly what this all becomes! I’m excited to find out! NOW GO MAKE SOME PIE! J

Til next time,
Dani

MILE HIGH BLUEBERRY PIE RECIPE: (A riff on Joanne Chang’s recipe from Flour)

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into smaller pieces
2 egg yolks
3 Tbsp cold milk

Directions:

  1. Use a hand mixer to mix together the flour, sugar, and salt until just combined.
  2. Toss the pieces of butter over the top of the mixture and continue to beat on a low speed for about 2 minutes. If you need a visual, just wait until the flour mixture isn’t as snowy white, and that the whole thing holds together like wet sand when you clump it in your hand. There should still be pebbles of butter throughout.

  3. In another bowl (it can be a tinier one) use a whisk to mix together the egg yolks and milk until combines.
  4. Add the milk/egg mixture to the flour mixture and continue using the hand mixer (still on low) until the dough begins to form a bit. It shouldn’t fully come together, it should look kind of like a really sad sort of jumble that doesn’t even fully come together.
  5. Put all the dough together onto an unfloured surface and push it all together into a big clump. Then, start pushing the dough out from each side with your palm, smoothing it down. You’ll notice a marble effect start to happen with the smears of butter in the dough, this is a lovely thing.

    PIE!

  6. Do this all around the dough, on every side, until the dough finally begins to look like something that can be made into a delicious pastry and all comes together.
  7. Then, clump the dough again into a large mound and flatten it into a thick, pancake-like circle.
  8. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and chill it for at least two hours in the refrigerator. Or a couple of days, really, it’ll last in there a couple of days :) 
    I am making the same face in both of these pictures. My friend Alyson calls this face "Wedding Face," because she is convinced I will look like this is all the pictures on my wedding day. I pray each day she is wrong.
Ingredients:

Blueberry filling:
8 cups of blueberries
2 Tbsp cornstarch
¾ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 egg beaten
2 Tbsp sugar (I used sugar in the raw because it was closest to sanding sugar, which makes everything really sparkly)

Directions for filling and pie assembly:

  1. Take your chilled dough from the fridge.
  2. Place the dough on a floured work area and break it so you have about ¾ of the dough for the bottom crust, and ¼ of the dough for the top crust.
  3. Return the ¼ pie top the fridge.
  4. Roll the ¾ piece (for the bottom crust) until it’s about 12 inches around, but don’t make it too thin or your bottom will end up soggy. Wait, that sounded really wrong…but it’s right…for the pie.

  5. Transfer the pie dough to a 9-inch pie plate (at this time Sur Le Table was having a sale and I got a really cute ceramic pie plate for ten dollars, which was super awesome)
  6. Gently press the dough against the bottom and sides of the pie plate, as well as a bit over the rim. You can leave a little bit of dough hanging over the side, it shrinks a bit in the oven.


  7. Now place your pie plate with it’s bottom crust inside in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.
  8. Wait half an hour…this part sucks if you forgot about it and then realize you’re going to have to wait even longer to have the pie, and you already skipped lunch, which is stupid, but you really wanted to do that dumb “saving calories” thing so you could justify eating potentially half of whatever you bake…
  9. Preheat your over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  10. Line your pie crust in the pie shell with parchment paper and pie weights (or uncooked beans, or even uncooked rice) and bake for around 30 minutes (you’ll know the pie crust is done when the entire thing is a golden-brown shade of deliciousness)
  11. While your crust is baking, move onto making the filling! Starting with combining 2 cups of the blueberries, the cornstarch, ¾ cup of sugar, and the salt in a small pot on the stove over medium heat.
  12. Allow the mixture to sit and cook, watching over it and stirring here and there, until the sugar melts and the whole things becomes a mass of purpley, gooey, sticky, awesome, blueberry heaven.
  13. Remove the pot from the stove and pour in the rest of the 6 cups of blueberries, stirring it all together until every blueberry is coated in the sugar/cornstarch mixture.
  14. Once the pie crust is done, take it from the oven (but leave the oven on and set to 350) and remove the pie weights (or uncooked beans, or uncooked rice) and parchment paper.
  15. Fill the bottom crust with your beautiful, blueberry mixture. (If you have any left over, we had a little bit too much filling, keep it to the side and use it as a topping for the pie!)

  16. Take the top ¼ of dough out of the fridge and roll it out into a circle about 10 inches around on a floured surface.
  17. Take the top crust and gently place it over the blueberry filling.
  18. Use a knife to poke a hole in the center.
  19. Brush the top crust with the beaten egg (you were waiting for when that would come in, weren’t you?) and sprinkle your remaining sugar over the top.
  20. Bake for about 1 hour and thirty minutes, or until you see the entire top crust turn that same pretty golden color.
  21. Once the pie is finished, allow it to cool on a rack (or an open windowsill for that 1950’s feeling) and let it cool completely. (I promise, it’s worth it!)
  22. Once you wait the cooling time (and seriously, it will still be warm after like, 4 hours, so, you know, watch The Lord of the Rings or something while you wait) EAT IT! Topped with ice cream and any extra filling. It is heavenly.
     Gratuitous pie picture!
 Gratuitous pie with ice cream picture!

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