12.17.2008

Pie, again

I warned you, didn't I? The cascade of sugar and butter are still going strong.

Too strong, in fact. The other night we had a fire in the oven, thanks to the pie waxing innocent to your left. It was the frozen blueberries, I think—they're so much juicier than their summer selves.

The pie started out as an experiment. I had leftover dough left over from the pecan pie, and it seemed a shame to let it sit idle in the fridge, especially when there was a party involved.



















So I rolled it out, ransacked the house for fruits, and decided on a thawed high bush blueberry and fresh cranberry lattice. I added sugar to taste, a bit more than usual because of the tart fruit, and a handful of flour to hold the berries together (the general rule is 1 tablespoon per cup of fruit, but as the fire proved, with frozen fruit, perhaps it's best to aim for more like 1 and 1/2).

I topped the filling off with lemon and cinnamon, and all seemed well as the pan slid into the oven. It was hardly full, a bit sunken even, so I didn't bother to add a cookie sheet for safety. A half hour later, the room filled suddenly with smoke, the fishmonger cursing and flinging open the doors. I stumbled downstairs, guilty as charged, but luckily, all was saved. He'd scraped the oven, returned the pie to its post, and I even managed to make it to the party on time.

So long as you have a sturdy cookie sheet and a heavy hand with the flour, I highly recommend giving the pie a try.

CRANBERRY-BLUEBERRY HOLIDAY PIE

Makes 1 pie

Roll out a bottom pie crust, drape over 9-inch pan, and let rest. In a large mixing bowl, stir together 2 and 1/2 cups thawed blueberries, 2 and 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups sugar, or to taste, 5 to 7 tablespoons flour, depending on how juicy the berries are, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and a pinch of cinnamon. Mix well and spoon filling into crust. Roll out and weave a lattice top. Bake (over a cookie sheet!) at 425 for 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 and bake another 30 minutes, or until crust is golden and filling sets.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
All text, photographs, and other original material copyright 2008-2010 by Elspeth Hay unless otherwise noted.