Aunt Gaye’s Fresh Blueberry Streusel Pie

Here is another absolutely delicious way to use fresh blueberries. I asked Aunt Gaye, who lives in Birmingham, Alabama, for recommendations on using blueberries since I had such a large summer crop. (Aunt Gaye is a great cook.) In a second she replied that she indeed had a favorite blueberry recipe: “Fresh Blueberry Streusel Pie.” She promised to mail me the recipe. Mail. Isn’t that great? Everybody likes to get mail. On the down side, now I had to wait several days for the recipe. Well, the recipe arrived as promised and I made the pie. Aunt Gaye showed off her cooking talents again, this is another winning recipe. The pie really highlights the fresh blueberry flavor. The crunchy streusel topping also sets the blueberries off, too.

My generation, as well as Aunt Gaye’s generation — she is 89 years old and sharp “as a tack”— are probably the last ones who will remember life before the internet. Sending letters through the mail was how we communicated. We looked forward to getting weekly letters from loved relatives who were scattered far and wide such as our grandparents. My grandfather occasionally sent me letters while I was in college. He would type 5 or 6 letters at once using carbon paper. But sometimes he would get the carbon paper into the typewriter backwards so you had to put the letter up to a mirror to read it. What memories!

How about the phone? Sometimes we would call up relatives to check on them. But we were on a “party line” with seven other families so calling wasn’t much of an option. And what is a “party line”? I bet you are stuck. Ask the “prior to internet” generation or ask “Google.”

We are so used to instant responses in our culture, but we still have mail service. Send a card or letter to someone and watch for a reaction. Other than being surprised, I am sure that they will appreciate your thoughtfulness. I am guessing that you might get a reply through “Instant Messenger.”

Aunt Gaye is a great cook. She used to test recipes for Weight Watchers in their early, early days. We will occasionally visit Aunt Gaye on our travels and I always enjoy seeing what she is cooking. Over the years, she has “mailed” me several winning recipes — “Eggplant Caponata,” “Crawfish Pie Casserole” and “Yellow Squash Pickles” are three of these recipes which I have featured in past blog posts.

Making the Recipe and “Secret Ingredient”

This is a very quick — yes, let’s say quick — recipe to mix up, especially if you use a purchased pie crust. Here are the ingredients for the blueberry pie filling. The “secret ingredient’ in this recipe is sour cream. The filling actually tastes somewhat like a cheesecake flavor. In addition to sour cream, the custard filling is made with an egg, sugar, a little flour, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.

Mix the custard ingredients together using a mixer. Fold in fresh blueberries and pour into the pie shell. Part way through the cooking, add the streusel topping made of flour, sugar, butter and pecans. The edges of the pie brown quickly — I added an aluminum foil barrier to prevent burning.

And that’s the blueberry pie. Easy to mix up and delicious!

Making a “Perfect Pie Crust“

You obviously need a pie shell for this pie. Purchasing a frozen crust is easy to do and that’s the route I often take. However, making a pie crust is really quite easy. Over the years, I have made enough pie crusts that I have perfected the process. And this is a very rich, buttery crust — which, of course, is made with lots of butter. I use a food processor to mix up my pie shell. So, if you want to make your own pie shell; get out your food processor and follow along.

The ingredients for the pie shell are flour, butter, just a pinch of salt and ice water. Keep the butter cold for this recipe and you must use ice water — not just cold water. (To make ice water, put several ice cubes in cold water in a measuring cup.) Blend the flour and salt together in a food processor bowl. Add the cold butter in chunks and pulse unto the butter is cut into fine bits. Add the ice water — exactly 1/4 cup — and run the food processor until it forms a ball.

Transfer pastry dough onto a well-floured board and shape into a ball. Also dust the top of the pastry ball with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out into a circle until several inches larger than the pie pan. Turn the dough a 1/4 turn occasionally, flouring top and bottom, if needed as you go, so the dough doesn’t stick. When the pastry dough is the right size, roll the pastry circle around the rolling pin — shown in the third photo, perhaps hard to see. Look closely. Very loosely, unroll the pastry circle across the top of the pie pan, don’t stretch, carefully push it into the bottom of the pie pan. Trim shell and pinch edges. Poke holes in the bottom of the pie shell. You will have some dough left over. Either use this to decorate the top of the pie. Or roll the left over dough into a rectangular, add cinnamon sugar and then roll up. Cut off pieces and bake like miniature cinnamon rolls. Yum.

This is another winning recipe from Aunt Gaye! Thanks. Hope you make the pie and enjoy it, too. And this finishes my blueberries for this year.