I don’t ever remember my mom making this one, but I do remember the “pick your own” farm down the road. They had asparagus (which we picked A LOT of) and later blueberries — which was not as much fun as it sounded because they had only recently planted those bushes and they were like scrub brush! Lots of bending and back pain, before I finally gave up and just sat on the ground!
This has led to my lifelong love of “pick your own” farms. Some people think it is stupid to pay more to do all the work, but I love being out in the fields. I’ve dragged many friends to pick with me and everyone has had a great time. So if you are looking for something fun to do…go pick, and then afterwards make this pie.
Be warned, the filling won’t take up the whole pie crust (and mine looked ugly)…that is because you are adding 5 cups of blueberries to the top of it. It’ll work out, don’t fret.
Blueberry Cream Pie
Crust:
1 ⅓ cup Vanilla Wafers (crushed)
2 TBL Sugar
5 TBL Butter
½ tsp Vanilla
Filling:
¼ cup Sugar
3 TBL Flour
Pinch of salt
1 cup Half and Half
3 Egg Yolks (beaten)
1 tsp Vanilla
[2 TBL Butter]
1 TBL Confectioners Sugar
Topping:
5 cups Fresh Blueberries
⅔ cup Sugar
1 TBL Cornstarch
Combine 1st 4 ingredients, press into the bottom and sides of an ungreased 9 inch pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool.
In a saucepan combine flour, sugar, salt. Wisk in cream, cook, stirring often, over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Cook 2 more minutes, stirring often. Wisk ¼ of the cream mixture into beaten egg yolks slowly, wisking constantly (so as not to cook the eggs). Add egg mix back to the pan and bring to a gentle boil. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar.
In a medium saucepan bring 2 cups blueberries to a boil. Cook 2 minutes, then remove from heat and immediately press through a strainer. (You should have 1 cup of juice, add water if necessary to get 1 cup — get rid of the pulp.) Combine sugar and cornstarch, and stir it into warm blueberry juice, return to heat and cook until thick and bubbly. Cool 15 minutes. Stir in 3 cup fresh berries. Add to top of pie. Chill 3 hours before serving.
