Three Pie Crusts Part III: Blueberry Pie with Lemon Pastry

So for the third and final pie crust in this series, I’m trying a flavored crust with a woven top. I usually think fancy pie toppings are annoying, mainly because I’m not good at making food look pretty. BUT! This is remarkably simple AND looks amazing.

1. Once you mix the flour and salt, cutting in very cold butter and mixing either by hand or with the pastry beater on an electric mixer creates a crumbly texture.

2. Adding ice-cold water, in this case lemon-flavored water, makes the dough stick together. Start with 4 Tbsp of water and 2 Tbsp lemon juice, and add 1 Tbsp water at a time as needed. I only needed 5 to get a dough that was quite moist. You’ll have enough to roll it out into two crusts.

3. Be sure to have plenty of flour on hand to prevent the dough from sticking when you roll it out. You’ll want to sprinkle it both under and on top of the dough.

4. One of the crusts will go into the pie plate. The other will be cut into strips and woven together.

Blueberry Pie with Lemon Pastry

Serves 8. *Vegetarian

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Ingredients

  

Lemon Pastry

• 1 lemon
• 4 4-6 Tbsp ice cold water
• 2 cups sifted whole-wheat flour plus flour for rolling
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup cold butter

Blueberry Pie

• Lemon Pastry above
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp lemon zest

Instructions

 

Lemon Pastry

• Zest and juice lemon. Put 2 Tbsp lemon juice and water into separate small bowls and put in the freezer. Sift flour and measure out into a medium bowl; mix flour and salt and then whisk in lemon zest.
• Cut in butter and mix by hand or with a pastry mixer until crumbly. Mix lemon juice with 4 Tbsp water and sprinkle over dry ingredients; mix and roll into a ball, adding 1–2 Tbsp water as needed to get dough to stick together.
• Divide dough into 2 balls. Roll each out on a floured surface to form a circle. Fit one half into a 9-inch pie plate and save the other for topping the pie.

Blueberry Pie

• Line a 9-inch pie plate with half the rolled-out Lemon Pastry. If using fresh blueberries, rinse and pick out any stems or bad berries. Drain and pat dry.
• Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl whisk together sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, lemon juice, and zest. Add blueberries and mix thoroughly to coat.
• Fill pie crust with blueberry mixture. Cut remaining pastry into strips; lay half strips across the pie and then interweave the other strips going the other direction. Bake 30–40 minutes, or until crust is golden and berries are bubbling. Serve as is or with vanilla ice cream.