by Nicole Jordan
For me, the end of summer doesn't just mark the start of my favorite season. It’s the time of year where I make my favorite dessert and think about the woman who made me fall in love with it. The dessert, as you might have guessed, is blueberry pie. The woman was my grandma.
My Grandma lived in the small town of Hammonton, New Jersey, also known as the Blueberry Capital of The World. My earliest memories revolve around summer days spent in her home with the smell of delicious food wafting around her house. She was an excellent cook, baker, and dancer, might I add. However, I always favored her recipe for blueberry pie the most. Maybe because it was rare that I had sweets as a child, so the combination of the flaky golden layers of the crust and the sweet, slightly syrupy filling was heavenly. I love this dish so much that it has become a little tradition of mine to make it at the end of summer, right before all of the fresh berries go out of season.
Crust
2 ½ cups flour 1 tablespoon sugar a pinch of salt 5 fluid ounces vegetable or canola oil 3 fluid ounces milk | 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 2. Combine ingredients in a bowl and then transfer the dough onto wax paper. 3. To roll the dough out, place another piece of wax paper on top of the dough to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. The dough should be about an ⅛ inch thick. 4. Place the dough in the pie pan and bake until golden brown. 5. Set aside the finished pie crust to cool before adding the filling. |
Pie Filling
3 ½ cups blueberries ¾ cup sugar 3 tablespoons cornstarch a pinch of salt 1 ¼ cups water plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice | 1. Take 1 cup of berries and 1 ¼ cups of water and bring to a boil in a large pot over medium to low heat. 2. While the berries are being brought to a boil, mix 4 tablespoons of water with the cornstarch. 3. Remove the blueberries from the heat and add the sugar, cornstarch mixture, and salt. 4. Put the mixture back on the heat and cook until it thickens. 5. Once the filling thickens, remove from the heat and add the remaining berries and lemon juice. 6. Pour into the pie shell and chill. 7. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream. |
// Recipe card by my grandmother, Hammonton sign from Triathlete, pie via Williams-Sonoma Taste
Tags: by Nicole, Food