Blueberry Pie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should I prebake my pie crust for blueberry pie? ›

Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie.

Berry pies need starch to help thicken the filling because berries give off a lot of juice when they cook. For a typical nine inch pie, you need two tablespoons of flour, cornstarch, or tapioca starch. Tapioca is best because it sets clear, which let's the filling look bright and glossy.

Place 3 pints blueberries, sugar, water, cornstarch, and cinnamon in a saucepan; cook and stir over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat; gently stir in butter and remaining 1 pint of blueberries so blueberries stay whole.

Try sprinkling graham cracker crumbs inside your bottom crust; they soak up some of the juices released from fruit during baking. I have also used ground cookie crumbs on the bottom of the crust before adding the fruit.

If the bottom crust doesn't set before the filling soaks in, it's going to be gummy. A metal pie pan placed on a preheated surface will set the bottom crust quickest; once cooked, the liquids from the filling above won't soak in, and as a result: no soggy bottom.

Blind Bake

The most common way to ward off a soggy pie crust is by a process called blind baking. Blind baking means you pre-bake the crust (sometimes covered with parchment or foil and weighed down with pie weights to prevent the crust from bubbling up) so that it sets and crisps up before you add any wet filling.

Very often flour or cornstarch is used, but in certain instances tapioca, arrowroot and potato starch can also help achieve the desired consistency. Tapioca starch is preferable for products that will be frozen because it will not break down when thawed. We like tapioca in blueberry, cherry or peach pies.

With docking, the holes allow steam to escape, so the crust should stay flat against the baking dish when it isn't held down by pie weights or a filling. Otherwise the crust can puff up, not only impacting appearance but also leaving you with less space for whatever filling you have planned.

A fruit pie is ready to be pulled from the oven when its juices are bubbling in the center of the pie, not just the sides! Especially if it is a very juicy pie, make sure those bubbles are have a slower, thick appearance to them, as opposed to the faster, more watery bubbles that appear on the edges of a pie at first.

A: Dotting the top of a fruit pie filling with butter is an old habit but one that is called for in only about half of the pie recipes out there. Some maintain that the butter is for taste; others claim that it helps the filling set up, particularly when using flour as a thickener.

What does adding egg to pie filling do? ›

Adding an extra egg gives the pie a cake-like consistency.

There was a very thin shiny top layer, but the rest of the filling was a consistent light-orange color.

Cornstarch has thickening power similar to Instant ClearJel. Like flour, it lends a cloudy, semi-transparent look to filling. It can also give filling a starchy taste. For full effectiveness, make sure the pie filling is bubbling up through the crust before removing your pie from the oven.

There are a few instances, actually. You need a par-baked or fully baked crust if you're making quiche, no-bake pie, custard pie, cream pie, pudding pie, or simply want an extra-crisp pie crust. If you're making a pie that doesn't require a baked filling, you still need a baked crust.

Choose the Right Rack in the Oven

Which rack you use in the oven can help ensure a crisp crust. Baking the pie on a lower rack will concentrate heat on the bottom of the pie and help the crust crisp.

It needs at least 2 hours to finish setting up after you pull the hot pie out of the oven. If you cut into a hot fruit pie right away, it's definitely going to be runnier than if you let it set up all the way. Another reason why blueberry pie might be runny is that it just didn't bake long enough.

Partially bake a pie crust if your crust needs longer in the oven than the pie filling, such as brownie pie or quiche. And if you want an extra-crisp pie crust for your apple pie, you can partially blind bake the crust before adding the filling.

Pre-baking is a must if you're looking for a flaky pie crust. It's especially helpful for recipes with a wet center. Recipes for most tarts, pies, and quiches call for pre-baking to ensure that the final product doesn't end up soggy.

Pre-cooking your filling basically allows you to control the juiciness before it goes into the oven, so there are no major surprises when it's time to bake.

Higher temperatures make the gluten in pie crusts tighten up and shrink a bit. So if your recipe requires pre-baking the pie crust, it will shrink less if you bake it “low and slow” (around 350 degrees F).