Vegan Blueberry Pie
By America's Test KitchenPublished on February 29, 2020
Yield
Serves 8
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Use a coarse grater to shred the apple. Measure the tapioca, which may be sold as “Minute Tapioca,” before grinding it. Grind the tapioca to a powder in a spice grinder or a mini food processor. Make sure your dough is room temperature before rolling out.
Instructions
- Place 3 cups blueberries in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring and mashing occasionally with potato masher, until half of blueberries are broken down and mixture measures 1½ cups, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to large bowl and let cool completely, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Roll 1 disk of dough between 2 large sheets parchment paper into 12-inch circle. Remove parchment on top of dough round and flip into 9-inch pie plate; peel off second sheet parchment. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with your hand while pressing into plate bottom with your other hand. Roll other disk of dough between 2 large sheets parchment paper into 12-inch circle.
- Place shredded apple in center of dish towel. Gather ends together and twist tightly to drain as much liquid as possible. Transfer apple to bowl with cooked blueberry mixture and stir in remaining 3 cups uncooked blueberries, ¾ cup sugar, tapioca, lemon zest and juice, and salt until combined. Spread mixture into dough-lined pie plate. Pinch ½-inch pieces of coconut oil and disperse evenly over top of blueberries.
- Using 1¼-inch round cookie cutter, cut out single round in center of 12-inch dough circle. Cut out 6 more rounds from dough, 1½ inches from edge of center hole and equally spaced around center hole. Loosely roll dough circle around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto filling.
- Trim overhang to ½ inch beyond lip of plate. Pinch edges of top and bottom crusts firmly together. Tuck overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of plate. Crimp dough evenly around edge of plate using your fingers. Sprinkle surface evenly with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
- Set pie on prepared baking sheet and bake until crust is light golden brown, about 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, rotate sheet, and continue to bake until juices are bubbling and crust is golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes longer.
- Whisk water and cornstarch together in small saucepan. Whisking constantly, bring to boil over high heat; remove pot from heat. Working quickly, brush surface of pie with cornstarch mixture, being careful to avoid pooling. Let pie cool completely on wire rack, about 4 hours, before serving.
Yield
Serves 8Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
To thicken the pie, we favored tapioca, which allowed the fresh yet subtle blueberry flavor to shine through. Too much of it, though, and we had a congealed mess. Cooking and reducing half of the berries helped us cut down on the tapioca, but not enough. A second inspiration came when we remembered that apples are high in pectin, a type of carbohydrate that acts as a thickener when cooked. Along with a modest 2 tablespoons of tapioca, a peeled and shredded Granny Smith apple thickened the filling to a soft, even consistency. To vent the steam from the berries, we found a faster, easier alternative to a lattice top: a biscuit cutter, which we used to cut out circles in the top crust. We thought a pie wouldn't be complete without a glistening, bronzed top that comes from an egg wash. To make this pie look blue ribbon–worthy, we first sprinkled sugar over it before baking. Then, we borrowed a technique sometimes used when baking rye breads: We painted a hot cornstarch slurry over our crust when we pulled it from the oven. Once dried, it gave the pie the gleaming, golden finish we wanted.
Before You Begin
Use a coarse grater to shred the apple. Measure the tapioca, which may be sold as “Minute Tapioca,” before grinding it. Grind the tapioca to a powder in a spice grinder or a mini food processor. Make sure your dough is room temperature before rolling out.
Instructions
- Place 3 cups blueberries in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring and mashing occasionally with potato masher, until half of blueberries are broken down and mixture measures 1½ cups, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to large bowl and let cool completely, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Roll 1 disk of dough between 2 large sheets parchment paper into 12-inch circle. Remove parchment on top of dough round and flip into 9-inch pie plate; peel off second sheet parchment. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with your hand while pressing into plate bottom with your other hand. Roll other disk of dough between 2 large sheets parchment paper into 12-inch circle.
- Place shredded apple in center of dish towel. Gather ends together and twist tightly to drain as much liquid as possible. Transfer apple to bowl with cooked blueberry mixture and stir in remaining 3 cups uncooked blueberries, ¾ cup sugar, tapioca, lemon zest and juice, and salt until combined. Spread mixture into dough-lined pie plate. Pinch ½-inch pieces of coconut oil and disperse evenly over top of blueberries.
- Using 1¼-inch round cookie cutter, cut out single round in center of 12-inch dough circle. Cut out 6 more rounds from dough, 1½ inches from edge of center hole and equally spaced around center hole. Loosely roll dough circle around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto filling.
- Trim overhang to ½ inch beyond lip of plate. Pinch edges of top and bottom crusts firmly together. Tuck overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of plate. Crimp dough evenly around edge of plate using your fingers. Sprinkle surface evenly with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
- Set pie on prepared baking sheet and bake until crust is light golden brown, about 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, rotate sheet, and continue to bake until juices are bubbling and crust is golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes longer.
- Whisk water and cornstarch together in small saucepan. Whisking constantly, bring to boil over high heat; remove pot from heat. Working quickly, brush surface of pie with cornstarch mixture, being careful to avoid pooling. Let pie cool completely on wire rack, about 4 hours, before serving.
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