Wild Blueberry–Maple Pie with a Cornmeal Crust

The fun of writing your own pie cookbook is that you don’t have to justify weighting the material toward your personal favorites. So without apology, I present yet another blueberry pie that I simply love.

I think of this as a sort of “Best of New England” blueberry pie: small, sweet-tart wild blueberries sweetened with real maple syrup. The earthy cornmeal crust is a nod to earlier times, when cornmeal was much more commonly used in American kitchens. It’s crunchy yet tender, the perfect crust when you want a rustic pie for your family or a casual gathering. I like to serve it with vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients

1 recipe Cornmeal Pie Pastry, Double Crust (see below), refrigerated

Filling
3 cups wild blueberries, canned (drained), frozen (partially thawed), or fresh (picked over for stems)

¼ cup pure maple syrup, preferably light or medium amber

2 tablespoons sugar

1½ tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

1. If you haven’t already, prepare the pastry and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.

2. On a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, roll the larger portion of the pastry into a 12-inch circle with a floured rolling pin. Please note that this pastry is a little softer than some and the graininess from the cornmeal makes it slightly more fragile, so proceed delicately and with a well-floured pin. Invert the pastry over a 9-inch standard pie pan, center, and peel off the paper. Gently tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and let the overhang drape over the edge. Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

3. Combine the blueberries and maple syrup in a medium-size bowl. Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl, then stir the mixture into the blueberries along with the lemon juice and cinnamon.

4. Turn the filling into the chilled pie shell, smoothing the fruit with a spoon. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

5. Roll the other half of the pastry into a 10-inch circle on a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper. Moisten the outer edge of the pie shell with a pastry brush. Invert the top pastry over the filling, center, and peel off the paper. Press the top and bottom pastries together along the dampened edge.

6. Using a knife, trim the pastry flush with the edge of the pan. Pinch and push the pastry slightly down inside the pan so that it sits just below the edge. Doing so will protect the pastry, which has a tendency to overbrown along the edge. Poke several steam vents in the top of the pie with a paring knife, twisting the knife to enlarge the holes slightly. Put a couple of the vents along the edge so you can check the juices there later.

7. Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 25 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and rotate the pie 180 degrees, so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward. Just in case, slide a large aluminum foil–lined baking sheet onto the rack below to catch any spills. Continue to bake until the juices bubble thickly along the edge, 25 to 30 minutes. If the top pastry starts to get too brown, cover the pie with loosely tented aluminum foil during the last 10 to 15 minutes.

8. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least 1 hour before serving.

Makes 8 to 10 servings

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Cornmeal Pie Pastry