This summer’s drought and heat, combined with the insane March heat wave, have pretty much decimated the Michigan fruit scene this year: plums, pears, apples, peaches, cherries…all gone. The only spared fruits are the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. While I’ll miss making cheap vats of applesauce, I’m really not mourning a season’s reprieve from peach & pear canning.
Given options, I’ll take berries over stone fruits any day. My grandmother’s fresh blueberry pie is a summer tradition and is a real treat with freshly picked berries. It loses nothing in adaptation for the allergic generation. The “cream cheese” base is not-to-be-missed. It sounds odd, I know, but trust me on this one.
PrintNana’s Fresh Blueberry Pie
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 pie 1x
Description
This fresh blueberry pie comes together on the stovetop, not the oven. It’s best with fresh in-season blueberries.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 3 Tablespoons corn starch
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 cups fresh blueberries
- 1/2 container dairy-free cream cheese (I used Tofutti)
- 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 pre-baked pie crust (Recipe below, or just buy a Pillsbury Refrigerated Crust)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar, water, corn starch, lemon juice and 1 cup of blueberries to a boil. Cook until the berries just start to explode and the sauce turns purple and thick. Remove from the heat.
- Add the remaining 3 cups blueberries and allow to cool down.
- While the blueberry filling cools, mix the cream cheese and the powdered sugar together in a small bowl until smooth.
- Spread the cream cheese mixture over the bottom of the baked pie crust.
- Pour the cooled blueberry pie filling on top and chill the whole pie.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream or dairy-free whipped cream ( I use Rich’s Whip).
Notes
This recipe only works with fresh blueberries. Frozen blueberries won’t work.
- Category: Pie
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: fresh blueberry pie, dairy free blueberry pie, vegan blueberry pie, fresh blueberry desserts
Blind Baked Dairy Free Pie Crust
Description
This recipe makes two crusts. If you’re going through the trouble of making crust, at least make a few. You can wrap the extra crust and freeze for a few months. If you want more detailed instructions, go to my post Dairy Free Pie Crust 101.
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup frozen shortening chopped (I put 1 cup of shortening in plastic wrap and flatten it down into a disk and freeze, then chop right before using)
- ½ cup ice water
Instructions
- Measure the flour and salt into the bowl of a food processor and give it a few pulses to mix.
- Add half the shortening and pulse until there are no big pieces at all.
- Add the second half of the shortening and give it 6-8 pulses until the shortening pieces are small, about the size of a pea.
- Sprinkle the ice water on top and use a knife to gently swirl the water around the dough in food processor bowl.
- Pulse another 6-8 times until the crumbly dough comes together, but don’t overdo it.
- Dump the dough out onto the counter, divide into two pieces.
- Form into two disks, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for a few minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Roll dough out into a thin circle, between two sheets of plastic wrap and carefully place dough into a pie pan. It might fall apart, don’t stress. Just smash it back into shape. Crimp the edges nicely. Patch up any holes. Prick all over with a fork. Put in the freezer while the oven heats up.
- Line the crust with parchment or foil, use some pie weights or dried beans to hold the crust in place while baking (this is called blind baking)
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until crust is golden brown. I remove the parchment and pie weights after about 15 minutes, once the edges are set, so the bottom of the crust will get baked as well.
Jaime says
That looks delicious! I can’t find richwhip tp save my life! Where do you buy yours?
Meg says
I buy mine at a local restaurant supply store, Gordon Food Services. It’s a Midwest & Florida company. http://www.gfs.com/en/store-locator.page?
Brynn says
When my grandma learned this recipe she made me about 5 pies in one month. Love her <3