Review: First Impression - I will probably not be making this pie again. (I would stick with the regular Betty Crocker Blueberry pie recipe found on page 304 or click here.)
But I'm going to go through the recipe blow by blow so that you know why.
Found on page 314 of the 1950 Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook this recipe uses the standard vintage Betty pastry recipe for a one crust pie. (page 310 or click here if you do not yet own the book.)
If you look at the photo above you will notice there is extra crust in the form of cutouts. This is because I stupidly forgot the first rule of following a recipe - to READ the recipe first.
Because all the Betty Crocker pie recipes use the same basic crust, I had jumped in and made a two crust batch just assuming I would need both crusts. When I opened the cookbook and realized my mistake I decided it wouldn't hurt anything to add some cutouts on the top :-)
And I still had some pastry left over so I sugared it and baked it up and we ate it quick as lightening before the pie was even done :-)
This recipe calls for you to make a cream, sugar, flour mixture that you will pour over the berries after you have put them in the pastry shell.
Before baking it looks like this:
Other adding that small extra bit of crust I followed the recipe exactly.
I put the oven at precisely the temperature specified and left the pie in the oven for the recommended time. I even made a note that it says to bake until the filling is "set".
And I thought it was.
But after letting it cool for a while and then cutting into it I discovered a gluelike mess - rather like porridge. The bottom crust was super underbaked and you could still see the cream and flour in the filling.
And when I tried to lift out a piece I got this:
Never one to give up on a pie I threw on a pie shield (to keep the already very brown edge crust from burning up completely) and tossed it back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
The result was a much firmer pie and the flour and cream have disappeared into the blueberries to make a thick filling.
Now when I cut a piece it looked more like a proper slice of pie.
But, as I said in the beginning, I probably will not make this pie again. After the second bake I imagine I got the pie that you are supposed to get from this recipe but, to me, the end result was as gloppy as if I had used canned blueberry pie filling rather than fresh blueberries. At $4 a pint (out of season) that was a waste of some terrific berries.
I'm sad.
Betty almost never lets me down :-(
If you are just finding the blog for the first time you might want to explore the other articles on pie and Betty Crocker's 1950 Picture Cookbook. You can find them by clicking the "All About Pie" and "Back To Betty" categories in the right hand side bar.
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