Mini Blueberry Pies

Helga Glaesel de Blandingjunio 27, 2012

This post is also available in ENGLISH (INGLÉS)

I finally mustered the courage to make these. I was afraid they would be tricky to assemble and I would end up wasting ingredients. I made the dough this time, sometimes I cheat and use frozen pie dough, but I really wanted to make these using a homemade crust . It doesn’t take much effort to make a homemade crust when you use a food processor, and the result will always be better than the store bought kind. The trick is not to overwork the dough. Just blend it until it is all combined and the dough is formed. Resist from mixing or kneading the dough too much, which activates the gluten in the flour and affects the texture of your baked crust. Instead of a flaky crust, you’ll have a dense one. When using butter, make sure it is cold and not at room temperature.

When I finished my dough, and I went through the assembly steps, I was glad to see they are not difficult to make at all!

I tried different designs for the top crust, and I can tell you right away you should try the lattice top to get the prettiest result. I completely covered some of them, but the blueberry juice oozed from their side and ended up looking a little messy (you’ll see in my photographs).

I will try this recipe again using different fillings, apple will probably be next. I tried to explain the procedure on the steps below, but you can pretty much get the idea just from the photographs, I promise it’s not hard to make. I also included a video of how to make a lattice top on Step 5 of the assembly procedure.

Helga

Mini Blueberry Pies

Crust Recipe from Martha Stewart, Filling Recipe adapted from Tidy Mom
Assembly tips: Adventuress Heart

Makes 6 mini pies

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
¼ to ½ cup ice water

Egg Wash:
1 egg
1 tablespoon water

Filling:
2 ½ cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Preparation:

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.
Gently combine berries, sugar, flour, cornstarch, lemon zest and lemon juice in large bowl.

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 425 F.
Roll out pie dough and using either a cookie cutter mold, ramekin, a small round plate or anything round that has a diameter of 4 ¼» for the bottom crust and 3 ½» for the top crust. My cookie cutter was under 4″, so I kept the dough a little thicker and rolled it out after I cut it to make it larger in diameter.
Place your pie dough rounds inside the holes of your cupcake mold (you don’t need to grease the cupcake mold, the pie crust has enough butter to prevent it from sticking). Using your fingers, gently press down the sides and bottom to make sure you’re getting a proper shape.
Add the blueberry filling all the way to the top.
Roll out the remaining dough to make the tops. Use your round mold, and make any design you like. If you will use a top crust to completely cover the top, try to seal the sides properly to help the filling stay inside during baking. I recommend using a lattice pattern.
Once the mini pies have been assembled, brush the tops with an egg wash to create a golden and shiny finish.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden in color. Start to check them on minute 25.
Serve with vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream.