NESCOPECK, Pa. — Whether you are a blueberry pie connoisseur or you just love a great dessert, this blueberry crumb pie will soon become your favorite to bake and eat! The Home & Backyard team visited Rebecca Grasley, owner of The Pie Hole coffee and pie shops and author of the cookbook, Pie is Messy at her family's homestead in Nescopek, PA to join her in baking a pie! Rebecca chose her Blueberry Crumb Pie featuring her grandmother's tried and true crust. With more than fifty years of baking experience, Rebecca shared some of her favorite baking tips.
RECIPE
Crust
Makes enough for one 9 inch double crust or two 9-inch single crust pies.
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup ice-cold water plus more as needed.
Method
In a large bowl, mix the four, shortening and salt with a pastry blender until crumbly, and the bits of flour are fate and the size of peas.
Sprinkle the ice water over the mixture, starting with 1/2 cup, and using your hands, quickly mix the dough until it comes together in clumps and you can shape into a ball. If the mixture is still too crumbly add more cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Watch the texture as you mix. When the dough becomes smooth and velvety like a baby's behind, it is time to stop working it. If you do happened to overmix the dough and it resembles an elastic blob, don't stress. You'll still enjoy the pie in the end even if the crust isn't perfect. And next time you'll get this step right.
Alternatively, use your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. On low speed combine the four and salt. Mix in the shortening increasing increasing the speed up to medium as the fat begins to combine into the four. Stop when the mixture turns grainy- if it becomes a smooth paste, you have gone too far-2 to 3 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment and add a 1/2 cup of ice water. Mix on medium and and more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough turns smooth and soft.
Divide the dough into two ball, wrap in plastics wrap, and store in refrigerator for a least 30 minutes, or until you are ready to roll out the crust.
Filling
1 quart fresh blueberries
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of kosher salt
Crumb Topping
1/3 cup of sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons salted butter
Method
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Roll out the crust, and lay it in a 9-inch pie pan. Trim and flute the edge according to the crust instructions above. Set aside.
To make the filling: In a large bowl, combine the berries, sugar, flour, lemon zest and juice, nutmeg and salt. Stir together and pour the mixture into the crust.
To make the crumb topping: In a medium bowl mix together the sugar and the flour. With a pastry blender or your fingers, work in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Mound crumb topping over berry filling.
Next, Place the pie on a cookie sheet (to catch the drips) and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 350 degrees F and bake for 25 minutes longer, or until the filling bubbles up through the topping and crumb turns golden brown.
Serve pie warm, or cool on the counter until room temperature, about two hours.
"Rebecca Grasley is the founder of The Pie Hole and has more than fifty years of pie baking experience. After a career in nursing, Becky moved from rural Pennsylvania to finance the first Pie Hole in Los Angeles. The Pie Hole has gone on to open locations in California and Japan and has a thriving e-commerce business."