Blueberry Pie

I'm sure at this point my love of dessert baking is fairly obvious. From pies to cakes to cookies and pastries, I make no attempt to avoid a good old fashioned sweet. If my plan is to get all varieties of baked goods under my belt, I can't limit myself to just one type! I just recently made Cherry Pie, which turned out smashingly with fresh berries and tapioca. After a long workday followed by my noticing quite a few blueberries piled up in my freezer, I figured it was time for some baking therapy and blueberry pie to get a chance.

I rinsed off some blueberries then tossed them into a bowl. Initially, I bought these fresh, but after a few days put them in the freezer so they would not go to waste. The great thing about juicy fruits like cherries and blueberries is that when they bake, the liquid slowly seeps out and creates a nice pie filling. The only thing it needed was something to help it solidify. As I've had success with tapioca in the past with Banana Pudding, I decided to use it again. Corn starch will also work, but can impact flavor. And if the size of the  tapioca beads bother you, toss some in a food processor! You end up with a powdered version that is less noticeable. I have used this kind in puddings and the tapioca works just as well.

After laying the crust in a pie dish, I added the mixture to a fresh pie crust. The berries were still frozen, and that's just fine.

For this pie, I tried to make an attractive crust--usually I keep it basic in fear of mauling the poor dough. I am not the most artistic person when it comes to sharp objects. After placing the pie dough over the filling, I used a small (sharp!) knife to cut little eyelets in the top and folded the top over slightly to create a border. I then brushed on some beaten egg to help give it a golden brown color during baking. You can also use milk, but I've found egg whites to work best.

After baking, it didn't turn out quite as smooth and beautiful as I expected, but that's ok! Taste is the main piece of the puzzle, and I'm a novice decorator.

So flavor: agave nectar and honey plus the natural sweetness of the berries were more than enough for this pie. It was not tooth-aching sweet, but would satisfy any pie-lovers sweet tooth. I could have used more nutmeg but didn't want to overdo it--nutmeg is a best friend to almost any dessert. I would suggest using an additional tablespoon or 2 of tapioca as the filling was gooey, but still slightly thin even at room temperature. I don't know that a summer evening could get much better than a warm slice of this topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Blueberry Pie Recipe 

Ingredients: 

2 pie dough sheets
4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons tapioca
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon salt

1 egg white, for crust

Instructions:

Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Add berries, tapioca, agave nectar, honey, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt to a medium bowl and stir or toss gently to combine. Lay first layer of pie crust in a pie dish and poke a few times with s fork to vent. Pour in filling and then top with second layer of crust. Spread egg white over the top and bake for 40-45 minutes.