Blueberry Crumb Pie
Sue Cross
Flaky Pie Pastry:
2 ½ cups sifted all purpose flour
3 teaspoons sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup firm, unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
½ cup chilled vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
5 to 6 tablespoons ice water, or more as needed
Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add butter and shortening to coat the fats with flour. Use a pastry blender and mix until it resembles coarse meal. Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the clumps of dough form into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk and dust generously with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll out pastry disk to fit a 9-inch pie plate. Leave an inch of pastry hanging over the edge for crimping the top edge of dough around the plate before adding filling and crumb crust.
Pie Filling:
4 cups blueberries (fresh or drained if frozen; set drained juice aside)
1 cup blueberry juice
¼ cup concord grape juice
½-¾ cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 to 5 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with extra blueberry juice, to thicken
Heat the juices, slowly add cornstarch mixture to thicken. Cool, then add drained blueberries. Pour into pie crust and dot with 4 small pieces of butter.
Crumb Crust:
¾ cup all purpose flour
½ cup sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
½ cup raw, ground almonds
Pinch salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Add the butter. Use a pastry blender to mix into coarse crumbs. Add cinnamon and almonds and mix lightly. Sprinkle crumb mixture on top of pie filling.
Decorate topping with cut-out pieces of dough brushed with beaten egg white and sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon sugar.
Bake at 375° F for 45 minutes. Cool on rack for 3 hours before serving.