Norwegian Wild Blueberry Pie
Unless you’re lucky enough to find some growing at your local rest stop (like I was) in order to secure some wild blueberries you’ll probably have to grab some from your local freezer section. No worries though, these will work just as well as fresh, without the tedious task of sorting taking off the leaves and stems if you pick them yourself.
So what the big deal with wild blueberries? In terms of taste, wild berries are much sweeter with a more concentrated flavor due to their higher skin-to-pulp ratio. They apparently have more anitoxidants too because one thing I think about when eatin pie is my antioxidant level.
Now what makes this blueberry pie Norwegian? There are two particular ingredients that give this pie a bit of a different twist. First, and most importantly, the cardamom. The addition of cardamom gives this pie a slightly different taste the your normal blueberry pie. The second and more subtle addition in the vanilla sugar or vanilje-sukker. I used Freia for this recipe but any vanilla sugar will do.
On to the pie!
6 cups wild blueberries
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
1 tablespoon melted salted butter
egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon milk
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup cold salted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 tablespoons cold water
1 egg beaten with two teaspoons of water to brush the top of the crust
In a medium sized bowl, add the flour, sugar and salt and whisk together to combine.
Cut the butter into the flour using a fork or pastry cutter until various sized crumbs appear. Slowly add the cold water into the flour and form into a ball then quickly knead the dough to bring it together. Remove the dough from the bowl, cut into 2 sections and round into balls. Flatten each ball into a disk, cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 35 minutes.
Add some flour to a working surface and remove the dough from the fridge. Unwrap one of the disks and using a rolling pin, quickly roll dough out to about â…“ inch thickness. Place the dough on the bottom and up sides of a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the blueberries, lemon zest, sugar, corn starch, flour, cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla sugar and butter. Mix ingredients together thoroughly until moistened then carefully transfer the blueberry mixture into the dough-lined pie pan. Make sure to keep the edges clean of blueberry juice.
Roll out the second disk into a rectangle and using a pastry scraper or knife cut the dough into 2 inch-wide strips. Carefully remove from the counter top and place on top of the pie.
Place in the oven for 55-60 minutes. Remove when done and let sit for at least 1 hour to allow the pie to set.