Try this Blueberry Lemon Pie recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- *spoon and sweep method: use a spoon to fill measu
- double recipe pure butter pie crust
- 4 cups blueberries (if frozen thaw completely)
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons imperial sugar extra fine granu
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour*
- Carbohydrate 0.0695482291886013 g
- Cholesterol 7.6325 mg
- Fat 2.880155 g
- Fiber 0.0277708343069612 g
- Protein 0.0351322916676325 g
- Saturated Fat 1.8236615 g
- Serving Size 1 1 slice (4g)
- Sodium 39.1666770833359 mg
- Sugar 0.0417773948816401 g
- Trans Fat 0.2019715 g
- Calories 26 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Combine blueberries, 1 cup sugar, flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt; set aside.
- Place bottom crust in a 9-inch pie plate. Pour blueberry mixture into pie shell. Dot with butter. Place top crust over, flute edges, and vent. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.
- Bake for 40 -50 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice bubbles through steam vents.
- Cool completely before slicing to allow filling to set up.
- Slice and serve. Top with vanilla ice cream or lemon sherbert if desired.
Cooling the pie completely to room temperature before slicing is the single most critical window for structural integrity, because fruit pectins require hours to cross-link and form a stable gel rather than a runny puddle. Without adequate resting time, the internal temperature remains high enough that the starches cannot trap the moisture released by the blueberries during baking at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Letting the pastry sit undisturbed on a wire rack allows ambient air circulation underneath the 9-inch plate, accelerating the final setting process.
Scaling and Fruit Ratios
Adapting this filling for larger or smaller batches requires maintaining strict volumetric ratios between the flour, sugar, and moisture-rich berries, particularly if substituting frozen fruit for fresh ones. When scaling upward for a deep-dish vessel or multiple pans, remember that frozen blueberries release significantly more free liquid upon thawing than fresh produce, which means extra liquid must be drained or compensated for with a slight increase in all-purpose flour. Weighing dry ingredients on a digital scale yields far more consistent thickening results than volumetric cup measurements, eliminating the density variations caused by different flour-packing techniques.
Historical Context and Pastry Mechanics
Double-crust fruit pies trace their lineage back to medieval European meat and fruit pies where the pastry served primarily as a durable, inedible storage vessel before evolving into the flaky, enriched butter crusts prized in modern baking. Achieving flakiness in the top and bottom crusts depends entirely on keeping the fat cold until it hits the oven heat, where trapped water vaporizes and creates distinct layers. Dotting the interior filling with small pieces of unsalted butter just before applying the top crust adds extra dairy solids that melt into the simmering juices, enriching the fruit body without making the bottom crust soggy.
