Double-Crust Blueberry Pie

Every year in late summer, Steve Boothby and his wife, Bonnie Rollo, host an annual pickling day, complete with lunch, which once featured the best blueberry pie I had ever tasted – a masterpiece from Steve who grew up in Muskoka, the source of the pie’s wild blueberries. Steve says, “This recipe comes from my mom, Marion Boothby of Bracebridge. At eighty-eight, she can still produce at least one of these pies a year.”

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pastry for a deep 2-crust 9-inch (23 cm) pie
  • 4 cups (1L) blueberries
  • 2/3 cup (150 mL) granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp (30 mL) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp (15 mL) quick tapioca
  • ¼ tsp (1 mL) salt
  • 1 tbsp (15 mL) grated lemon zest
  • 4 tsp (20 mL) fresh lemon juice
  • 1 ½ tsp (7 mL) butter, in bits

Instructions
 

  • Line a 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate with pastry; trim to the rim. Set aside.
  • Combine the blueberries, sugar, flour, tapioca and salt. Stir in the lemon zest and juice, let stand for 10 to 15 minutes. Mix well and turn into the pastry-lined pie plate.
  • Dot with butter, wet the pastry around the rim, cover with the top pastry and press the two layers together gently along the rim.
  • Trim the top pastry to about ¾ inch (2 cm) from the rim; fold the overhang under the bottom pastry. Flute both layers of the pastry together. Slash vent holes in the top pastry (a small circle in the middle and 4 or 5 slashes radiating from the middle).
  • Bake in the bottom third of a 450° F (230° C) oven for 10 minutes; reduce the heat to 350° F (180° C) and bake until the blueberries gently bubble up through the slashed holes, about 30 to 40 minutes longer.

Notes

VARIATION: Canadian Apple Pie
If you want the apples to hold their shape, choose a variety such as Northern Spy, Crispin or Idared. Any of the McIntosh family such as Cortland or Empire, turn into sauce when baked. Some people like to use a combination of apples to get an interesting flavour and texture.
Substitute the blueberry filling with 8 cups (2 L) peeled and cored apple slices, ¾ cup (175 mL) granulated sugar, 2 tbsp (30 mL) cornstarch, 1 tsp (5 mL)cinnamon and a pinch each of nutmeg and salt. Proceed as in the main recipe, dotting the filling with 2 tbsp (30 mL) soft butter.
SOURCE: Canada’s Favourite Recipes by Elizabeth Baird and Rose Murray. BGO thanks the authors for allowing us permission to share this recipe.
Photo: Marcella DiLonardo
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