I come from a long line of pie makers. Both of my Grandma’s are experts and while my mom didn’t bake often (she claimed we never ate it, plus my Grandma’s were always sending treats) she was always successful when she did. You’d think I’d have confidence in myself to take on Ladybug’s call for blueberry pie, I mean pastry making should be in my genes, but I didn’t. I felt intimidated.
I’ve spent a lot of time in my Grandma’s kitchens but I cannot ever remember helping make pie. Sure, they’ve always assured me it’s easy but they’ve been pie making for more than half a century. Can they really remember what it was like the first time? And were they crazy enough to do it with a mere recipe and no expert help? No matter, I decided it was time to find out if I could live up to my pastry roots. Big Sur Bakery’s Blueberry Pie (unfortunately I can’t share the recipe this week so all the more reason to leave a comment to win the book below) was calling to me.
I started with the crust. Right away the Big Sur Bakery crew let me in on the secret to flaky perfection. Lard. I saw lots of that in my Grandmas’ kitchens so I believe them. I cut up my butter and lard, mixed it with lots of flour then chilled it for half an hour. Then I added an egg and ice water, and it was at this point l found myself ill equipped for the task. Pastry cutter? Hmm, how about a wire whisk? It worked sort of (OK, not really) but eventually I decided to get my hands dirty.
While my dough chilled, I set to work on the filling. Finding the blueberries at this time of year was easy, frozen huckleberries not so much. I opted for raspberries instead. Also missing in action, Crème Fraiche so I whipped up a substitution using whipping cream and sour cream (thanks to T. for his sous chef research). Making the filling was a snap and it looked so good we had to hold ourselves back from skipping baking it at all.
Finally came the rolling. Despite having a rolling pin passed down from one of my Grandmas (I thought it would bring me good crust-making fortune), I think rolling was my downfall. The recipe said to roll my dough into two 12-inch circles. It didn’t say anything about how thick they should be so I ignored the voice in my head that said, “That sure doesn’t look like Grandma’s.” Maybe it was a little thick, but that would just add to the flakiness I decided.
I assembled my pie and crimped the edges just like a professional. As I put it in the oven I started to daydream about wearing my pink apron all day and opening a bakery. A half an hour into baking I a peeked in the oven and my dreams were shattered. My crimped edges were completely bloated and the whole pie had puffed up like a balloon. While I knew it would probably still taste good (fingers crossed), I also knew my presentation left much to be desired.
Half an hour later my pie was cooling on the counter. It was golden and smelled delicious but I was definitely glad to only be serving it to one of my dearest friends and T. Their reviews were more than encouraging, yes there was a lot of crust, but it was buttery, flaky and delicious. The filling also got two thumbs up. Maybe my genes have just been repressed all this time. Hopefully I’ll have even better results next time. Peach and blackberry anyone?
WIN a copy of The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook!
Share your feedback, advice, tips and recipe suggestions for testing in future posts in the comments section below and you'll be entered for a chance to win a copy of The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook by Michelle Wojtowicz (HarperCollins 2009). Click here to read full contest details including rules and regulations.