Elle's Fresh Blueberry Pie #FridayPieDay

Fresh blueberries are the star of this pie, stirred through with a sweet berry glaze and then piled into a crispy, flakey pie crust. 

It’s been just over two years since the blogging community got the terrible news that one of our special friends, Lee Ann known to us all as Elle of Elle’s Kitchen had passed away. We pulled together to celebrate her life by choosing recipes to cook from her blog and had a great big Ellapalooza party. If you’ve been reading this space for that long you might remember that I shared a one of Lee Ann’s delicious cocktails, a Moscow Mule. What you couldn’t know is that the refreshing Mule won out over this fresh blueberry pie by just a nose. It’s been on my to-make list too long but since it's a sad anniversary of sorts and the blueberries were on sale this week at my local supermarket, it seemed like the right time to make it and remember Elle. We all still miss her.

Ingredients
Dough for a one crust pie 
1 egg white
1 cup or 150g frozen berry blend (I used a mix called Black Forest fruit.)
4 cups or 630g fresh blueberries
1/2 cup or 120ml water
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon water
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 pinch salt

Method
Wash the blueberries and spin them dry gently in a salad spinner and lightly beat the egg white.

Heat oven to 375°F or 190°C. Line the pie pan with the crust dough, and then cover with a piece of parchment paper. Fill the bottom of the parchment with dried beans or baking beads. Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the crust from oven, then remove the parchment and beans. Brush the crust with the egg white, and then bake until golden brown, about 5-8 minutes. Set on a rack to cool.

While the crust is baking and then cooling, prepare the filling. In a small saucepan, heat the frozen berries, and the 1/2 cup or 120ml of water. Bring to a boil.

While that's coming to a boil, whisk the cornstarch and remaining (2 tbsp plus 1 tsp) water in a small bowl. Stir well and set aside. When the fruit and water come to a boil, turn it down to a simmer and stir for 3 to 4 minutes.

Whisk in the sugar, cornstarch mixture, lemon juice and salt.

Turn the heat up a little bit and keep whisking until the fruit mixture thickens and becomes a gorgeous glossy thick fruity gel.

Remove the gel from the heat.  In a large bowl, stir the gel with the fresh berries.

Spoon into the baked crust, then let it sit for at least 2 hours before cutting into it.

Enjoy!

This fresh blueberry pie is my contribution to this month's Friday Pie Day, the brilliant creation of Heather from All Roads Lead to the Kitchen. (Formerly girlichef.)

I am pleased to join her on the last Friday of each month for pie and crust recipes, techniques, tools of the trade, and other inspiration.

This month Heather made an easy lobster pie. Doesn't that sounds divine?

For more information and recipes, please check out her #FridayPieDay page!

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Blueberry Pie with Polenta Shortcake Crust #FridayPieDay

A buttery polenta shortcake crust filled with fresh blueberries makes a beautiful dessert for family but it’s pretty enough for special guests.

When I was in university studying journalism with some public relations and graphic design thrown in, we still used picas (1 pica=12 point) as a measure of column width. We talked about leading (the space between the lines of type) and kerning (the space between the letters) and column inches. I’m guessing that those designing newspapers still do. What I didn’t realize is that the origin of the word pica is connected with another of my favorite words: Pie!

pie (n.2)

"magpie," mid-13c. (late 12c. as a surname), from Old French pie (13c.), from Latin pica "magpie" (see magpie). In 16c., a wily pie was a "cunning person." Source: EtymOnline

Yeah, I’m kind of a word wonk. One of my favorite parts of reading cookbooks, magazines and blogs from other countries is learning all the different ways we refer to the same sorts of dishes, like pies and tarts. Even the variety of things that are called pie, both savory and sweet, baked and fried, handheld or baked in a pie plate, is enormous.

Last January I was blessed with the gift of the digital UK edition of delicious. magazine for my birthday. Each month I scroll through the gorgeous photographs and mark the recipes I’d like to try, either as written or adapted to our own tastes. As soon as I saw the recipe they called Blueberry Polenta Shortcake, I said to myself, “Shortcake?! That’s pie! It has two crusts!”

Adapted from delicious. magazine, UK digital edition, August 2015

Ingredients
For the crust:
1 2/3 cups or 210g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup or 150g chilled unsalted butter
1/2 cup or 100g polenta or fine cornmeal
2/3 cup or 150g fine sugar
Finely grated zest 1 large orange
1 large egg
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

For the filling:
2 1/2 cups or 340g fresh blueberries, plus a couple extra for decoration
5 teaspoons sugar
Good pinch salt
1 heaped tablespoon polenta or fine cornmeal

To sprinkle on before baking
1 tablespoon demerara sugar

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Use some non-stick spray or a little oil to grease the inside of your 9 in or 23cm spring form pan. Cut a piece of parchment just bigger than the base so you can cover up past where the sides and bottom of the pan join.

Cut the butter into cubes and add it to your food processor with the flour, baking powder and salt. Pulse until you have sandy looking crumbs.

Add in the polenta, sugar and orange zest and pulse again briefly.

Add in the egg mixed with the orange juice and pulse again until a dough starts to form.

Tip it out onto a floured surface. It's going to look fairly crumbly but should hang together as you knead it.

Knead it a turn or two.

Cut a little more than 1/3 of the dough or 250g off and wrap it with cling film. Put it in the refrigerator to chill.

Press the rest of the dough into the bottom and at least an inch or 2cm the sides of your prepared baking pan. Just keep working on it till it's nice and even.

Remove all little stems, if any, from your blueberries and pour them into the bottom crust.

Mix the good pinch of salt with the sugar and heaped spoon of polenta then sprinkle them over the blueberries.

Draw a circle the size of your baking pan on a large piece of baking parchment. Roll the chilled dough out between that one and another piece of parchment until it’s a little bigger than the circle. Try to peel the parchment off. If it’s too sticky, pop the rolled dough back into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.

Cut the dough out around the circle and peel one side of the parchment off.

Turn the pastry over and gently ease the pastry circle onto the blueberries and bottom crust, pressing down gently to remove air from underneath. Push the crust in at the sides, peeling the top parchment sheet off as you go.

Decorate with a few more blueberries, if desired, and sprinkle on the demerara sugar. As you can see, I also made some little balls with the pastry scraps but they just baked into the crust so you really don't need to bother.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes or until the top crust is golden.

Allow to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes and then run a thin knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the crust.

Open the spring form pan and carefully remove the pie to a wire rack. Leave to cool completely before cutting.

The golden bottom

Enjoy!

This blueberry pie with polenta shortcake crust is my contribution to this month's Friday Pie Day, the brilliant creation of Heather from All Roads Lead to the Kitchen. (Formerly girlichef.)

I am pleased to join her on the last Friday of each month for pie and crust recipes, techniques, tools of the trade, and other inspiration.

This month Heather is sharing a round up of beautiful pies that would perfect for your Thanksgiving celebration! Do go over and have a look.

For more information and recipes, please check out her #FridayPieDay page!

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Red, White and Blue Sangria

Crisp dry white wine, mixed with a little lemon vodka and Grand Marnier, then topped up with lemon-lime soda and lots of pretty fruit, makes a refreshing libation for summertime. 

This week Sunday Supper is remembering all those who made the ultimate sacrifice in our armed forces, just ahead of Memorial Day tomorrow, by showing off our red, white and/or blue recipes. Even as you feast and enjoy the extra day’s holiday – if you are living in the US, that is – we hope you will be inspired to honor military personnel from every country who died to preserve our freedoms, including those who put themselves in harm’s way to bring aid to the needy and try to ensure safety and peace in troubled regions worldwide. (Did you know that there are more than 30 countries whose flags are red, white and blue?) Unlike Veteran's Day, which honors the service of all soldiers, Memorial Day is especially to recognize those who gave their lives.

Many thanks to this week’s host, the great DB from Crazy Foodie Stunts. Make sure you scroll on down to the bottom of my post to see all the colorful recipes we are sharing today.

Let me introduce this sangria ingredient list with a disclaimer. When I told my husband that I was making sangria and, did he want some, he said, “Nah, thanks. I’ll just have a cold beer.” Well, I’m all for taking one for the team, particularly my Sunday Supper group, but drinking an entire one-wine-bottle batch of sangria seemed ill-advised, so the amounts you see here photographed are for half of the recipe I share below. And, yes, I did drink the whole darn half pitcher over the course of a hot afternoon! It was refreshing and delicious.

Ingredients
1 bottle dry white wine (My favorite white is Sauvignon Blanc, both for sangria and drinking in general.)
1/3 cup or 80ml Grand Marnier
1/4 cup or 60ml lemon vodka
3 cups or 710ml lemon-lime soda (Two of the 12 oz or 355ml cans.)
6 oz or 170g raspberries
4.4oz or 125g blueberries
1 dragon fruit

Method
Starting at least a day ahead, wash some of the blueberries and raspberries and put three blueberries and one raspberry in several of the holes of a muffin pan. For a more decorative look, I used the Nordic Ware one known online as the Bundt Brownie pan. <affiliate link Add a little water, until you see the blueberries just barely start to float.

Put the pan in the freezer and leave until the water freezes enough to hold the fruit in place.

Top up with more water and freeze until solid.

When the fruity ice is frozen, release by running some water over the back of the pan and store in a airtight container in the freezer. If you want to skip all these steps and get straight to the sangria, just use normal ice cubes.

When you are ready to serve, peel and slice your dragon fruit and cut it into pieces about the size of your raspberries and blueberries. Wash the berries and drain well.

In a pitcher, combine your wine, vodka and Grand Marnier.

Add your fruity ice (or just some normal ice) and then top up with the lemon-lime soda.

Add in more raspberries, blueberries and some of the cut dragon fruit. Put some berries and dragon fruit and ice in each glass and fill up with sangria.

Enjoy!

And make sure to check out all the other great red, white and/or blue recipes we have for you today.

Food Using One Color

Red Food

• Baby Back Ribs with Roasted Strawberry Barbecue Sauce by Crazy Foodie Stunts
• Baked Tomato Breakfast Cups by Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
• Red Velvet Milk Shake by Nosh My Way
• Strawberry Meringue Tartlets by What Smells So Good?
• Strawberry Oat Crumble by The Wimpy Vegetarian

White Food

• Alabama BBQ Sauce by Sew You Think You Can Cook

Blue Food

• Blueberry Breakfast Cookies by Pies and Plots
• Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Blue Velvet Cupcakes by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks

Food Using Two Colors

Red and White Food

• Pickled Shrimp with Pico de Gallo by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Sausage Rougail (Rougail Saucisse) by The Petit Gourmet

Blue and White Food

• Blueberry Feta Cucumber Salad by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Blueberry Pierogi by Curious Cuisiniere

Red, White and Blue Food

• Berry Berry Celebrations by Momma's Meals
• Berry Filled Firecracker Cupcakes by The Crumby Cupcake
• Berry Patriotic Chia Seed Pudding by Tasting Page
• Easy Chocolate Covered Marshmallows by Palatable Pastime
• Eton Mess by Caroline's Cooking
• Greek Yogurt Parfait Bar by Family Foodie
• Grilled Shrimp, Tomato and Bleu Cheese Flatbread by Our Good Life
• Individual Loaded Red, White, and Blue Salads by The Weekend Gourmet
• Patriotic Cocktail by Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
• Patriotic Panna Cotta by The Freshman Cook
• Red White And Blue Coleslaw by Nik Snacks
• Red, White, and Blue Parfaits by Life Tastes Good
• Red, White and Blue Cherry Pie by Savory Experiments
• Red, White, and Blue Potato Salad by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Red, White and Blue Sangria by Food Lust People Love
• Red White and Blue Sundae by Desserts Required
• St. Honore Cake by Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Strawberry, Blueberry & Raspberry Cheesecake Crumble by Food Done Light
• Tomato Blue Cheese Crostini by Magnolia Days
• Triple Berry Coconut Chia Pudding Parfaits by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Vanilla Pound Cake with Fresh Berries by Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Watermelon, Feta & Beet Appetizer by Take A Bite Out of Boca
  

Sangria outside on our new-to-us outdoor sofa set.  Doesn't it look refreshing!

Lemon Blueberry Van Halen Bundt #BundtBakers

This Lemon Blueberry Van Halen Bundt is a rich and buttery pound cake, filled with cream cheese and blueberries then drizzled with a lemon cream cheese glaze.

If you are a fan of Van Halen, you’ve probably discerned that my contribution for this month’s Bundt Bakers is a pound cake, so I'll elaborate further to say it's flavored with lemon and stuffed with blueberries. There’s also cream cheese and blueberry jam right up in there.

It’s not “an old time, long lost recipe” but one I adapted off of my friend Jenni’s blog, Pastry Chef Online, who in turn adapted it from an original recipe by a certain Miss Patsy. And while I don’t know Miss Patsy, I’m going to hazard a guess from her name that she is “home grown and down home, “ so the renaming of her pound cake is maybe appropriate, if you don’t think too hard about the rest of the Van Halen lyrics. As Jenni has proven myriad times, this recipe is easily adaptable and a great jumping off place for buttery rich pound cakes of various flavors.

This month our theme for Bundt Bakers is Hidden Surprises so, even after adding all the lemon, I couldn’t leave Miss Patsy’s recipe well enough alone; I had to try and put something inside. I chose blueberries and cream cheese, which sounded like a great idea, until the filling sunk. And that is when I added a glaze to the instructions because I had to hide it again. If you don’t mind the look of a blueberry upside down Bundt, leave off the glaze because it was delicious. Rather ugly actually, but definitely delicious. On the other hand, a lemony cream cheese glaze is never a bad thing. Your call.

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups or 285g flour
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/4 cups or 450g sugar
1 1/8 cup or 255g unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup or 60ml whole milk
1/4 cup or 60ml cream
1/4 cup or 60ml fresh lemon juice

For the filling:
2 1/2 oz or 70g cream cheese, cold
1 3/4 oz or 50g fresh blueberries, plus a few extra for decorating, if desired
1/4 cup or 80g blueberry jam

Optional lemon glaze:
1/2 cup or 60g icing sugar
1 1/4 oz or 35g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2-3 teaspoons milk

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 10-cup Bundt pan by greasing and flouring it or using the non-stick spray that has flour already in it.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

Measure your milk, cream and lemon juice together in a measuring cup and stir well. It's going to kind of thicken and get all sour creamy/buttermilky and that's a good thing.

In the bowl of your stand mixer or with electric beaters, cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add in the vanilla and then the first egg.

Beat well until combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula and add the other two eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.

Add in half your flour and beat well, followed by half your liquid mixture and beat until thoroughly combined.

Scrape the sides of the bowl well and continue beating, adding the balance of the flour and then the balance of the liquids, along with the lemon zest. Beat well.

Spoon two-thirds of your batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Use a spoon to make a very shallow channel in the batter.

For the filling, cut the cream cheese up into small chunks and mix lightly with the jam and fresh blueberries.

Spoon your filling into the channel.

Then top it with the balance of the batter and smooth it out.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes or until the top is nicely golden and the Bundt begins to just pull away from the sides.

Let the Bundt cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

This is not a thing of beauty

The filling will probably sink to the bottom of the pan, which becomes the top of the cake, making an upside down blueberry cream cheese topping. Which, as I mentioned, while delicious, is not particularly attractive. At least in my opinion. If you’d like to hide it with a glaze, whisk all the glaze ingredients together, adding just enough milk to get it to the consistency you'd like, and then drizzle it (or use a piping bag) to decorate the top of the Bundt.

If you've added the glaze, top with a few blueberries, if desired.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to our host this month, Anshie of Spice Roots for a great, if somewhat vexing, theme and for all the work it takes to host. Have a look at how the rest of our group handled the Hidden Surprises challenge:

• Almond Crunch Cake by Magnolia Days
• Balsamic Strawberry Filled Bundt Cake by Our Good Life
• Banana Maple Bundt Cake with Chocolate Star by Un Mordisco Un Pecado
• Black and White Surprise Bundt Cake by Patty's Cake
• Chocolate and Vanilla Polka Dot Bundt by Passion Kneaded
• Chocolate Bundt Cake with Oreo Cheesecake Filling by Recipes, Food and Cooking
• Chocolate Cheesecake Filled Peanut Butter Bundt Cake by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Citrus Raspberry Bundt by Noshing With The Nolands
• Confetti Zebra Cake by Eat, Drink, Be Mighty
• Cookie Dough Bundt Cake by Liv for Cake
• German Mozarthupf by A Kingdom for a Cake
• Graham Cracker Bundt Cake with Key Lime Cheesecake Swirl by Brooklyn Homemaker
• KitKat Surprise Bundt Cake by Simply Veggies
• Lemon Blueberry Van Halen Bundt by Food Lust People Love
• Orange and Strawberry Jam Bundt Cake by Baking Yummies
• Pear and Blue Cheese Bundt by Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Polka Dot Bundt Cake by Brunch with Joy
• Raspberry Filled Lemon Bundt by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Real Deal Nutella Bundt Cake by Baking in Pyjamas
• Savory Monkey Bread Stuffed Bundt by Adventures in All Things Food
• Sour Cream Boozy Hazelnut Bundt Cake by Sidewalk Shoes
• Spring Break S'mores Cake by Tea and Scones
• Strawberry Cheese Cake Bundt Cake by Basic N Delicious
• Strawberry Twinkie Bundt Cake by I Love Bundt Cakes
• Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake by Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies
• Surprise Bundt by Mummy & Cute
• Surprise Filled Chocolate Bundt Cake by Media Ración Doble, Por Favor
• Surprise Inside Carrot Bundt Cake by Making Miracles
• Triple Lemon Bundt Cake by Baking and Creating with Avril
• Tropical Surprise Bundt Cake by Spice Roots

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Lemon Blueberry Van Halen Bundt!