It’s Pie Day here in the US. March 14. 3.14 Of course, the rest of the world dates differently (i.e. dd/mm/yyyy or YYYY/dd/mm) but playing into the game, I decided to make this Pie for Pi day. Delicious and pretty, though be careful with overdoing it on the orange zest.
Pie comes with a hidden message. Doesn’t everyone need an emotional support pie plate?
Ingredients
for the pastry
5 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
28 tablespoons (3 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup (or more) ice water
for the filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
zest from one orange
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
Pinch table salt
5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 egg mixed with 2 tablespoons water, for egg wash
Directions
Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening and cut in using pulse function 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 into 2 pieces. Flatten each into disk. Wrap each in plastic; chill 2 hours.
Position rack in lowest third of oven and preheat to 400F. Mix together sugar, corn starch, orange zest and juice and spices in a medium bowl. Add blueberries and toss to blend.
Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter pie dish or tart pan. Fold edge under, forming high-standing rim; crimp. Add filling. Roll out second dough disk on floured surface. Using a 2 inch heart cookie cutter, cut out enough hearts to cover the surface of the pie (I needed about 36). Cover the entire surface of the filled pie, overlapping as needed. Using a pastry brush, brush surface with the egg wash.
Place pie on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch any juices if the pie overflows) and place in oven and bake pie 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375F. Continue baking until juices bubble thickly between the top rounds and crust is deep golden, covering edges with foil if browning too quickly, about 1 hour. Let pie cool a minimum of 2 hours before cutting. This is important as the pie filling will be pretty loose. If you want to serve warm pie, reheat pieces individually.
