Desserts

Honey Balsamic Blueberry Pie

Another weekend, another pie. In fact, I think that this is the third weekend out of five that I have made some variation on the theme. But I like blueberry pie, and so do a lot of my friends, and this one is again for a grilling dinner. I’ll probably be switching to strawberries here soon, anyway (but then back to blueberries when my favorite kind — Maine Wild Blueberries — are ripe later in the summer. In the meantime, here is this variation, which has a bit of tartness from the balsamic and a bit of sweet from the honey. Don’t be put off by the touch of pepper: you don’t actually taste it much but adds a nice little bit of depth of flavor.

Ingredients
for the pastry
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, diced
6 tablespoons (or more) ice water

for the filling
7 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 large egg

Directions
Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening and cut in by pulsing until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 6 tablespoons ice water and process until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather into ball, divide, then flatten into two disks. Wrap in plastic; chill 2 hours.

Place 1 cup blueberries in a large bowl and crush blueberries with a wooden spoon. Stir cornstarch and vinegar into crushed berries until cornstarch dissolves. Stir sugar, honey, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon and pepper, and remaining 6 cups blueberries into crushed berry mixture. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 9 inch pie plate with baking spray.

Roll out one of the dough disks to a 12 inch circle. Place in pie plate and crimp edges. Dock the pastry with a fork a few times, all the way to the edges. Spoon berry mixture onto the pie plate. Roll out the other dough disk to a long sheet and cut narrow bands. Create a lattice top over the pie and anchor to the crust. Lightly brush pastry with the beaten egg wash. Place on a baking sheet (in case it boils over) and place on the center rack in the oven.

Bake until filling is bubbling and pastry is golden, 55 minutes to an hour. If the top gets too brown before the hour, cover with aluminum foil. Cool slightly on baking sheet on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

HoneyBalsamicBlueberryPie-Medium2

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