Showing posts with label fillings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fillings. Show all posts
Now that we are into the month of July, it won't be long before we are enjoying Blueberries. August ans Blueberries go together like peas and carrots and there is no better time to make a delicious blueberry pie! I like to make my own Homemade Blueberry Pie Filling rather than start with raw blueberries in the pie. I find that I have much better success this way. There are no soggy bottoms!
This Homemade Blueberry Pie filling is excellent. Its the result of many years of trial and error on my part. It is just sweet enough and just thick enough. I can make it ahead a day or two prior to when I want to bake my pie.
That way on the day all I have to do is to make my crust and filling it. I know that my filling will be perfectly cooked, and that my crust will brown evenly on the top and the bottom!
Its not too sweet and benefits from the additon of some lemon juice and zest which helps to preserve not only the colour but adds a nice freshness to the flavour.
I don't have the benefit of using wild blueberries here, which are the ultimate when it comes to making homemade blueberry pies! I grew up on wild blueberries!
Every August my mother would put the whole family to work picking them in her secret blueberry picking patch. It was somewhere behindup Paradise in the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia where I am from.
A very rural area. It would be hot, hot, hot . . . the cicadas would be humming and the skeeters and black flies would be biting . . . and we were ever watchful for bears.
August is when they start fattening up for the Winter and they love wild blueberries as much as we do!
I once dropped my whole bucket of berries because my dad pretended to be a bear! He came out from behind a bush growling and up the bucket went and me with it! In any case this is a beautiful blueberry pie filling that I just hope you will enjoy as much as I do!
Homemade Blueberry Pie Filling
Yield: 8 (enough for one pie)
prep time: 5 Mcook time: 10 Mtotal time: 15 M
This is a simple to make and delicious Blueberry Pie filling. You can also use it to top cheesecake or as a pancake topping. If you like blueberries, you will LOVE this fabulously fruity filling!
Ingredients:
- 120g granulated sugar (10 TBS)
- 4 TBS cornflour (cornstarch)
- 80ml water
- pinch of salt
- the finely grated zest of one lemon
- 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
- 600g fresh blueberries, divided (6 cups)
Instructions:
- Whisk the cornflour and sugar together in a saucepan until you can't see any lumps of cornflour. Stir in the water until smooth and then add 400g of the berries (4 cups).
- Bring to the boil over moderate heat, stirring. Allow to boil gently until the mixture begins to thicken. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest along with the remaining berries. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes longer.
- Cool completely then decant to a jar or bowl. Store covered in the refrigerator until you are ready to use. I recommend using it within 2 to 3 days because of the fresh berries in it.
I always use my Butter & Lard Pastry to bake my pies. It makes such a beautifully flaky crust. To make a blueberry pie, simply make the pastry, divide it in half and then roll out the bottom crust to fit in a 9 inch pie tin.
You then fill it with the cold blueberry pie filling and top with either a full crust or try to be fanciful as I have done with a lattice crust. Not a true lattice because I was tired by then, and I couldn't be bothered to weave it in. Nevermind, it tasted some yummy. About 35 to 40 minutes at 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.
Butter Lard Pastry
Yield: makes 2 (9-inch) crusts
prep time: cook time: total time:
This is a beautiful pastry. Flaky just right. You can add a touch of sugar to it if you are making a fruit pie.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all purpose flour (280g)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup butter (76g)
- 1/3 cup lard (or white vegetable shortening) (74g)
- 5 to 6 tablespoons of ice water
- (note: if using for a sweet pie, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar.)
Instructions:
- Mix flour with salt, and cut in butter and lard, until you have pieces of fat in the flour about the size of peas. Add ice water, one TBS at a time, tossing it in with a fork until pastry comes together. Form in to a ball and cut in two pieces. Form each into a round flat disc. Warp in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.
This pie filling is so good and comes in handy for all sorts. It makes an excellent cheese cake topping and is also pretty wonderful spooned over pancakes. Just sayin'! Discuss . . .
I love cherry pies. Most of my life I have just used the cherry filling for pies that you get in a tin. I always have had a couple of tins of that in the cupboard. Its what I use for my Chocolate Cherry Squares, and its great spooned over cheesecake, and its great in pies, of course!
I have been oggling this photo for cherry pie envelopes on Pinterest for a very long time, attributed to Liz Bushong. You can see her tutorial for making them here. They are gorgeous and I have wanted to try this for quite a while! Hers look so beautiful!
Hahaha, not sure if you would call this a pinterest fail or not!! I have to laugh when I look at it in comparison to Liz's! You just got to laugh at yourself dont you? Yes, you do! Its not healthy to take life too seriously!
I couldn't find any pie filling at the shops and I tried three. So I decided to make my own, from scratch and it turned out really well! I used two containers of frozen cherries that I picked up at the shops when I couldn't find any tinned filling . . . and I just winged it, and was very pleased with the results.
It turned out lovely and red, with no food colouring added and with all natural ingredients. Just the cherries, some sugar and some cornflour, with a bit of butter and almond flavouring added at the end.
You don't need to be adding any water to the cherries at all . . . once they thaw out while you are cooking this, they release plenty of moisture on their own.
I actually made the filling the night before. I packed it into a container and let it cool, then I covered it and put it into the refrigerator overnight so it was nice and cold when I went to make my pie envelopes.
I cut my pastry squares using my fluted pastry roller cutter thingie so that the squares would have a pretty edge. I also cut out little hearts to decorate the fronts, but I think I should have cut larger hearts as they got lost in the baking. They may not be very purty . . . . but they sure tasted good! Especially with a dollop of Devon Clotted Cream spooned on top!
*Cherry Pie Filling*
Makes enough for one pie
Whisk the cornflour and sugar together in a saucepan. Stir in the cherries and let sit for about half an hour or so. By this time they will have started to thaw out. Cook, stirring constantly over medium low heat until the cherries are all thawed and the juices have been released. Increase the heat to medium, and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and bubbles. Cook for a further two minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and almond extract. Let sit until cooled. Store, covered, in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
Note - This can also be frozen. Pack the cold filling into a freezer container, leaving one inch of headspace, cover tightly and freeze. You can also make this using fresh pitted cherries.
This cherry pie filling was really simple to make and tasted a bazillion times better than the tinned stuff. I think I will make it from scratch from now on when I want to make a cherry pie . . .no preservatives and all natural ingredients, and way less sugar. I like my pies a bit on the tart side, but if you like them sweeter you can use a bit more sugar if you like. I wouldn't add much more however, because I think this amount is just right. Of course a lot depends on the kind of cherries you use. I used Morello which are a bit tarter than sweet cherries. You can find my favourite pasty recipe here. Bon Appetit!
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