Having missed several SMS the last couple of months (kitchen reno and then computer crash), I was excited to get back in action this week. Melissa over at Lulu the Baker selected the delicious sounding Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Pie.
The recipe calls for making the all butter crust we have made several times before. I like this recipe because it has fantastic flavor but does have a tendency to shrink while cooking. I'm on a total Dorie kick right now so I tried her Good for Almost Everything Pie Crust instead. The crust baked up beautiful and golden brown - a very good start! The filling is easy to put together. This is where the story starts to fall apart. At thirty minutes, I checked the pie and saw that the crust had gotten too brown and the filling was far from set. I quickly covered the pie to prevent further browning and continued baking for ten more minutes to get to the forty minutes called for in the recipe. I knew the center wasn't set, but the edges were and if baked any longer, the crust would be burnt so I pulled it out.
Still optimistic, I let it set out to cool and then put in the refrigerator hoping the center would set. But it wasn't meant to be. The lovely pie turned into lemon buttermilk soup!
I managed to scoop out some of the crust with the perfectly done filling around the side and poured on some of the blueberry coulis I had planned on artfully drizzling over a perfect slice of pie. Dorie's crust is awesome, buttery and flaky. Melissa's filling had a delicious slightly lemon tangy flavor. This recipe could be a real winner with some tweaking. I wish I were a better baker so I could figure out what needs to change in the recipe to allow the filling to cook evenly as I would love to try this again.
The recipe can be found on Melissa's site here. I've included the recipe for the blueberry coulis below.
Blueberry Coulis
6 ounces fresh blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Combine the blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until the sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes. Taste the mixture and, if necessary, add more sugar. Continue to heat until any additional sugar is dissolved.
Strain the coulis through a fine-mesh sieve.
After straining, place the coulis in a clean saucepan and bring to a simmer. Make a slurry by blending 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1 teaspoon cold water. Drizzle the slurry into the simmering coulis gradually, adding just enough to lightly thicken the sauce.
Oh no! Sorry to hear that it didn't turn out. At least you have a great recipe for blueberry coulis!
ReplyDeleteOh no! I hate when things seem to be going so well, and then a recipe tuns for the worse. I'm not much of a pie baker myself, so here's to wishes for a better 2nd try!
ReplyDeleteI loved the filling and can imagine as a soup it would be lovely!
ReplyDeleteMy filling took for ages to set. I kept putting it back. I covered it to keep the crust from browning any more.
ReplyDeleteSorry, yours was not what you hoped for. Mine had a difficult ending but at least, it was a tasty one.
We had very similar experiences with the filling this week. I made a mini and in order to get the middle to set I ended up overcooking the outside portions. The filling was too tangy for me, but glad you enjoyed the flavor even if the texture wasn't quite right.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had a positive experience with Dorie's pie crust - her recipes really are the best! Did you pick up her new book?
Oh, sorry about the pie. At least it tasted good! I made a half recipe in a smaller pie pan and it set perfectly. I do feel like quite a few of the baking times in the Sweet Melissa book have been a bit off, though.
ReplyDeleteLooks great love your blog. Check out my new food blog at http://thedailysmash101.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteThat picture of the filling oozing out is so sad!! It is hard to have something not turn out after all that work. But thanks for baking along with me this week, and I hope you get great results next time you try the recipe!
ReplyDelete--Melissa