Tuesday, July 5, 2011

if you give a baker a trip to Texas...

The thing that happens after you go to Austin, TX is that you want to make pies. Big, hearty pies. And then re-decorate your house with rough-hewn wood and mexican-inspired patterned textiles and coarse weaves and some quirky metal chairs. And then maybe eat a taco.

And you want to do all of this immediately.

Well, the closest recipe I've found to "immediate" tonight is this one...from a Northeastern bakery called Sweet Melissa's, but don't judge, because I don't have any Southern cookbooks (not yet, at least). I was craving something with fresh fruit -- if any state could make me forego my chocolate obsession for a few days, it would be Texas -- or California, or okay, many states in the union, but TX was it this time -- and some kind of special twist, like so many of the places we stumbled upon during our three-day stretch in Austin.

Fortunately, the buttermilk+lemon sounds appropriately tangy and Texan and the produce from blueberry season sweetens the deal.* Unfortunately, "immediate" in pie time is still a few hours when you have to pre-bake the crust. But, fortunately again, I've got plenty of smile-colored memories to sift through as the oven does its thing and I settle back into this humid city I love to call "home."

Sweet Melissa's Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Pie

To make the pie:

1 prebaked 10-inch piecrust made from All-Butter Pie Dough (I'm lazy and used Pillsbury Ready-Made)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, sifted
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, butter, eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, zest, and lemon juice until smooth. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the prebaked pie shell. Place the pie plate on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil. Bake pie for 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the custard is set. Remove to a wire rack to cool to room temperature before topping with the blueberries.

To make the blueberry topping:

1/4 cup apricot preserves
1 Tablespoon water
1 1/2 dry pints fresh blueberries, picked through, stems discarded

In a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat, whisk together preserves and water, and cook until melted. Strain through a sieve into a medium bowl, add blueberries, and stir gently to coat. Pile the blueberries on top of pie.

Serve the pie chilled or at room temperature. It keeps tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. (Eat fast. Find friends to help.)


*Next time, I think I'll add lavender to the crust...inspired by this place's lemonade, but first a favorite little flavor here.

1 comment:

Sarah Amador said...

thanks lauren....and keep writing/sharing. i always like seeing what you pull out from various poets and your own stuff.

and that blueberry pie sounds delish. too bad we don't have buttermilk or blueberries here in nicaragua. :)