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.
Nana’s Fresh Blueberry Pie
- 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.
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Pie
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
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.
That looks delicious! I can’t find richwhip tp save my life! Where do you buy yours?
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?
When my grandma learned this recipe she made me about 5 pies in one month. Love her <3