RECIPE: Blueberry Cardamom Pie

I have a confession to make. I’m sort of obsessed with pie. Wait, does it need to be a secret for it to be a confession? If it’s not a secret, does that just make it a statement?

I have a statement to make. I’m sort of obsessed with pie.

In one of my favorite episodes of King of the Hill, the “That’s my purse! I don’t know you!” episode, right before Chane makes Bobby eat dirt, Bobby says, “I live right next door, guys. All I have to do is scream and my dad will be on you like flies on pie!” This really has nothing to do with this post except that I love the phrase “flies on pie” and I often connect anything I’m talking about to King of the Hill in my head. And I just woke up and it’s 3am so this makes TOTAL sense in the context of the post. I’m probably going to read this again after proper amounts of sleep (aka coffee) and realize how crazy it sounds but then leave it, because let’s be honest here, this is what a conversation with me IRL is like.

For as long as I can remember, pie has always been my dessert of choice. Especially when it is of the berry/stone fruit variety. After 32 years of baking and eating pie, however, one may decide to mix things up. Not by trying other desserts, that would be crazy of course, but by trying to combine some flavors that you don’t find in a pie. I also have this insane idea that came from an iPhone autocorrect of making pie pâté, which sounds disgusting, but won’t have any ground meat in it so it will be delicious. Dessert pâté. This BRILLIANT idea happened around 2 am. Obviously, my body is trying to tell me that I need to wake up at 2am, or that I’m a vampire. I’ll get back to you all on that one because we have pie to make!

Blueberry Cardamom Pie. The citrusy, slightly eucalyptus, floral, savory-sweet flavor of cardamom works perfectly with early season blueberries that aren’t quite as sweet as what you will find in the middle of summer. The floral note of cardamom adds a little bit of sweetness, while the citrus note helps bring out the flavor of the blueberries. All these characters start to push this pie into the savory realm, but only just a little bit, making it a welcome surprise from the usual cinnamon or ginger you will find in most blueberry pie recipes.

INGREDIENTS FOR BLUEBERRY CARDAMOM PIE

• Double crust pie dough (I recommend the All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough from Smitten Kitchen)
• 6 cups fresh or frozen blueberries*
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 egg

*if using frozen blueberries, measure them out while still frozen then allow them to thaw so you can drain the extra blueberry juice. Leaving it in would make the pie filling too runny!

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make pie dough according to the recipe.
2. Eat some of the pie dough. For quality control, of course.
3. Preheat oven to 425 F.
4. Combine blueberries and lemon juice in a large bowl.
5. In a smaller bowl, combine sugar, flour, and cardamom, then add it to the blueberries and mix until it has evenly coated the blueberries.
6. Scramble egg with a splash of water to make an egg wash, assemble the pie, and brush the top with the egg wash and cut small slits in the top of the pie.
7. Bake at 425 F for 20 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350 F and continue baking for 50 minutes or until the crust is golden and the juices are bubbling.
8. Let cool for two hours while continually looking at the pie and testing it to see if it is cool enough because you don’t want to have to wait A WHOLE TWO HOURS before eating it.

Don’t forget to use #peonyandinkrecipes on Instagram if you decide to make this Blueberry Cardamom Pie. I love seeing your creations!