blueberry lemon pie

This recipe comes from Erin McDowell’s new cookbook, The Book on Pie. It is the type of pie to bring a smile to anyone’s face and the perfect antidote to a dreary winter day. The first thing you taste when you bite into a slice is an explosion of blueberry, followed by a bright pop of lemon with subtle hints of vanilla and cinnamon. Replacing the top layer of crust with fresh blueberries and fresh lemon zest basically makes this a fruit salad right?

A few tips for success:

• The hardest part of this is letting the blueberry cool long enough to hold its shape when you cut out a slice. Give it at least 2-3 hours to cool out of the oven. (I think I’ve failed at this endeavor every time)

• Yep, you didn’t read it wrong - the entire half lemon is added to the filling, not just the juice

• The pie crust and filling can be separately made ahead of time

• You can use fresh or frozen blueberries for the filling, just let the frozen blueberries defrost in the fridge overnight (or quickly zapped in the microwave if you can’t plan ahead like me).

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Blueberry Lemon Pie

makes one 8 inch pie

ingredients

pie crust

1 1/4 AP flour

pinch of salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 in cubes

6 tablespoons ice water + sprinkle more if needed

blueberry filling

5 cups blueberries

1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon vanilla paste

3/4 cup AP sugar

1/2 cup AP flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

to finish

1 cup blueberries

lemon zest

mascarpone whipped cream (optional)

steps

pie crust:

Mixing dry ingredients with butter: Combine the AP flour and salt. Toss in the butter cubes (make sure the butter is as cold as possible) until the individual cubes are covered in flour.

Flatten the butter: Working quickly (so the butter doesn’t warm up too much), start flattening the butter pieces between your fingers until they’re the size of the walnut halves.

Hydrate: Drizzle in the ice water, and toss with the flour/butter mixture (like you would toss a salad - do not knead). The optimal hydration for your dough is to have it hold together in a ball with no floury streaks. If your dough is still too crumbly, add water slowly as a little water can go a long way. Form dough into a disk, wrap tightly and rest in the fridge for at least 30-60 min.

Roll out the dough: On a well floured surface, roll out the dough until it is 1 inch larger than your pie pan. Transfer dough into the pan, trim the excess dough to leave a 1 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the dough under itself and press down until you have a smooth ridge. Crimp the edges using whatever style you prefer - I pinched the dough between my thumb and index finger on one hand, and my index finger on the other, forming a wavy edge. Dock the dough with a fork, and let the dough chill in the freezer for 30 min. At this point, preheat the oven to 425F.

Par bake: Line the pie with parchment/aluminum, and fill with weights (pie weights, beans, rice etc.). Bake for 15 minutes, before removing the weights and continuing to bake for another 5-10 minutes until edges are brown and the bottom is cooked through. Set aside to cool.

blueberry filling:

Prepare the lemon: Remove the seeds. Roughly chop the half of a lemon including the peel, saving any lemon juice that squeezes out.

Cook the filling: In a medium pot, add the lemon we just chopped, 2 cups of blueberries, vanilla paste, 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat until the blueberries break down (8 - 10 minutes). Blend the mixture together until smooth. I used an immersion blender right in the pot. Bring mixture back to a simmer, and whisk in remaining 1/4 cup sugar with flour, cinnamon, and salt. Cook while whisking constantly until mixture comes to a simmer again and begins to thicken, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining 3 cups of blueberries and butter. Let cool with plastic wrap directly on the surface.

Finishing the pie: Preheat oven to 425 F. Pour the blueberry filling into the par-baked crust and bake for 30 minutes. Once pie is cool to the touch, top with fresh blueberries, lemon zest, and some mascarpone whipped cream if desired. Let fully cool before serving.

Mascarpone whipped cream: Whisk a 50/50 mixture of mascarpone and heavy cream with honey to taste until soft peaks form.

lemon pistachio tart

While we’ve all been staying home this summer, there is nothing like a lemon tart that will transport you straight to the streets of Paris. With a sweet buttery crust, bright zesty lemon cream, and an airy meringue, this is the kind of lemon tart that belongs on an outdoor cafe table along the streets of Saint Germain. The best part? It’s a dangerously simple recipe that you will make over and over again.

This recipe is adapted from Desserts by Pierre Hermé, a source I would trust with my life on all things French patisserie. The recipe for the pate sucrée (the tart crust) makes enough for 3 tarts, but they freeze wonderfully for future baking projects. I’ve adjusted the lemon cream recipe to reduce the amount of butter, because there was an obscene amount of butter, but don’t worry, the result is still a silky, creamy filling with just a little less guilt.

The meringue and pistachios are optional, but both elements really help balance out the strong lemon flavors of the cream. You can use either a fluted tart pan with the removable bottom, or in my case, I’ve elected to use a tart ring for a more streamlined look.

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Lemon Pistachio Tart
makes one 9.5 inch tart

ingredients

for the pate sucrée (tart dough):

2.5 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, room temp

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 1/2 cups almond meal, lightly packed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean pulp (optional)

2 large eggs, room temp

3 1/2 cups AP flour

for the lemon cream filling:

1 cup sugar

zest of 3 lemons

4 large eggs

3/4 cup lemon juice (4-5 lemons)

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into chunks

for the meringue (optional):

4 egg whites. room temp

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup chopped roasted pistachios

steps

Preparing the tart dough

1. Cream butter: Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy and add in the sugar, almond, salt, and vanilla bean if using until well mixed. Continue to beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure to scrape down the sides.

2. Add in flour: With the mixer on low, mix in the flour in 2 or 3 additions until just incorporated - you don’t want to overmix at this step and create a tough dough. Divide the dough into 3 disks and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

3. Shape the dough: Take out one of the disks from the fridge to slightly soften up for 10 min. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 - 1/4 inch thickness. If you’re having trouble with the dough cracking, roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper. To transfer the rolled out dough over to the tart ring, lightly roll up the dough over a rolling pan and unroll over the tart ring. Run the rolling pin across the top to cut off the extras. Don’t stretch the dough to fit as it will likely shrink in the oven, and if you have any spots missing, use any of the extra dough to patch those right up like you’re using play doh. Prick the dough all over with a fork to prevent air bubbles, and quickly pop back into the fridge for 30 min.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

4. Parbake: Line the dough with parchment and fill with dried beans/rice. Bake for 20 min. Remove parchment with the dried beans/rice and bake another 5-7 minutes until golden.

Lemon cream

1. Mixing: In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together until fragrant. Whisk in the eggs, then followed by the lemon juice.

2. Thickening the cream: Using a double broiler, with the bowl over a pot of boiling water, continue stirring the lemon mixture until it thickens where the whisk is leaving tracks (around 180 F). Be patient - the mixture will remain quite liquid until it nears the right temperature, and can take around 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it to avoid overcooking.

3. Adding in the butter: Once lemon mixture has reached the right consistency, whisk in the butter until it has dissolved. Bonus: do this step in a blender to create an extra airy and smooth cream.

Optional: Push the cream through a sieve to remove any lumps.

4. Cool: Line the surface directly with plastic wrap to avoid a skin forming, and let it come to room temperature.

Meringue

1. Meringue base: Using the whisk attachment, start beating the egg whites and vinegar together until soft peaks form.

2. Sugar syrup: I’m using an Italian meringue method to partially cook the meringue as we won’t be baking it. Simultaneously as you start running the mixer with the egg whites, add the sugar and water to a saucepan and bring to a temperature of 235 F, otherwise known as the soft ball stage. If you meringue is going faster than your sugar syrup, turn down the speed of the mixer but don’t stop it.

3. Adding in the sugar: Once the sugar has come to temp, keep mixer on low as you pour in the sugar syrup into the meringue. Make sure to do this along the edge of the bowl where it meets the meringue. Once the sugar is in, turn the mixer back on high until the meringue reaches stiff peaks. Use this meringue to pipe immediately.

Putting it all together

Now that you have all the components ready, fill the tart shell with the prepared lemon cream and level off using an offset spatula (or any other long flat utensil of your choosing). Using a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip, pipe round dollops of the meringue in circles on top of the lemon cream, reserving the center for the chopped pistachios. Serve immediately! But it will keep will in the fridge overnight as well.

Optional: If you own a blow torch for some reason, this is the time to break that baby out and give it that meringue some nice color. I had only recently acquired one myself, and have had way too much fun with it.