Wild Blueberry Pie

When you are baking cakes and pies, don’t wash laundry, even a machineful, at the same time. Once you go to hang the clothes on the lines outside, rest assured, a neighbourhood lonesome will scent you down. Usually she is an elderly lady with a rampant need to share her medical history. By the time she wraps it up by blurting “my death is inevitable”, the laundry will be dry. Your baking, on the other hand, will be nudged out of schedule. It happened to me when making a pie on my husband’s birthday.

Avoid the above especially if you are a food blogger with an obsession of photographing everything that comes out of your kitchen. Whether you are at the age of having hot waves or not, I guarantee, you will drown in sweat. You will make mistakes. You will create an irreversible mess. And your ears will be ringing by repeatedly more impatient inquiries by the door: “when will you be ready”, “how long will it still take”.... Oh, men can be such kids. If you have kids on the top of that, good luck! May the force be with you.

My mistake was that I used wrong flour. I buy organic, freshly milled flour that is packed in white paper bags. All the bags look identical. Because I had no time to read the text, I grabbed cake flour instead of all-purpose. It worked ok, but was difficult to handle because of low viscosity and starch. I recommend regular white flour. It should make pliable dough that is easy to roll.

Because I hate using refined flour (it has become such an insurmountable representative of devil in my mind that I’m wondering whether I’m in a need of therapy) I cut the amount in half by substituting it with rolled oats and full-grain spelt. It was a good choice for a rustic crust with a stronger taste and character. If you want your pie to be delicate and sophisticated, use only white flour and eat it without regret.

Although there are quite a few steps, the pie is easy to make. Dark chocolate and cheese-caramel filling combine perfectly, the first being sharp and the latter soft and sweet. Notice that the filling will turn solid when placed in cold. It makes the pie less moist. It is best served in room temperature with a good dab of whipped cream! Just to be sure it is not too dry!

Fresh blueberries are wonderful. If you can’t get hold on them, you can use jam. Modify the amount of sugar accordingly.

PIE CRUST

2 dl plain flour

1 dl rolled oats

1 dl wholegrain spelt

1 ½ ts salt

350 g butter

1 dl water (about)

I made two pies from the dough. One was shallow and the other deep. I filled the shallow one with caramel, blueberries and whipped cream. It was super-sweet!

Blend the flour and butter in a mixer until well crumbled

Quickly knead water in by hand

You may need less or more water, depending on the flour used

Form a firm ball, wrap it in plastic and place in refrigerator at least for an hour

Roll it out on a floured surface

Cover the bottom and sides of a deep baking dish with it

Prick with a fork here and there

You may need to prick it once more when it is baking, if it expands in the oven

No need for filling the form with beans or any other witch-craft

It won’t collapse, I promise

Bake in 175 C on the bottom level of the oven until it has a beautiful golden colour (it takes about 40 minutes to be ready)

DARK CHOCOLATE "INSULATION"

500 g dark chocolate

Melt the chocolate in a bowl placed on the top of a pot with boiling water

Paint the inside of crust with a pastry brush

Let it cool down and set before filling the pie

FRESH CHEESE

3 litres milk

1 litre cultured buttermilk

Bring milk to boil

Add buttermilk

Collect cheese curd to a sieve or cotton cloth

Press under weight for 10 minutes (not longer!)

Instead of cultured buttermilk you can use yoghurt or lemon to separate curd from whey.

CARAMEL

5 dl heavy cream

250 g muscovado sugar or brown sugar

Bring the cream and sugar into boil

Cook on a medium-low temperature regularly stirring with a spatula, preventing burning

Caramel is ready when the spatula leaves a trail behind when ran across the pan

Add 3 tbs of butter

Mix well

If you are not sure when the caramel is ready, place a drop or two in ice-cold water. When it solidifies and forms a clean ball, it is ready. If it scatters or dissolves, cook some more.

MAKE THE FILLING

Cheese from 3 litres of milk

3 dl caramel

50 g butter

A pinch of vanilla

Place the cheese in a mixer and process until smooth and silky without any graininess

Scrape it out and place in a bowl

Mix with caramel, butter and vanilla

Fill the pie

Add fresh blueberries on the top

Serve with whipped cream

SHARE!

When all is done and said, wash laundry! Hunt down the lonely neighbour lurking by the backyard. Offer her a sumptuous piece of pie, listen, console and give her your jolly company! Let the sugar talk!