The 1950 Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook features 4 recipes for Blueberry Pie.
All of them use the standard piecrust recipe from pages 298-299 - if you don't own the book here are some links to crust recipes:
For Betty Crocker's vintage crust click here.
For Anne's Personal Piecrust recipe click here.
The first thing to note is that all for recipes four blueberry pie are what I call "sub-recipes". Meaning you will find them in subsections of other master recipes.
For instance, Fresh Blueberry Pie is found on page 305 right under the master recipe for fresh berry pies.
Another note - almost all fruit pies in the Betty Crocker cookbook call for adding cinnamon to the sugar mixture you will use in the filling.
I do NOT do this.
I tried it the first time I made each recipe but decided I only like cinnamon in apple pie. The blueberry pies taste much better when the true blueberry flavor can come through without the adulteration of cinnamon.
1) Fresh Blueberry Pie. Found on page 304, this is the recipe I have used most often and it gives great results. There is a small note in the recipe mentioning the addition of lemon juice for tartness. I find that whether or not to add lemon juice depends a lot on the time of year you are making the pie and the overall quality of the blueberries. Berries available out of season are often quite tart and do not require extra lemon juice. Berries at the height of summer tend to be sweeter and you might want to add the juice.
2) Canned Blueberry Pie. Found on page 303, I have never made this recipe and, frankly, am unlikely to because the right kind of canned blueberries are pretty hard to find.
Canned blueberries from 1950 are NOT to be confused with today's canned blueberry pie filling. The 1950 canned blueberries were precooked berries in a juice or syrup as opposed to canned blueberry pie filling which has thickeners like cornstarch to create a precooked gloppy filling. I personally NEVER use canned blueberry or canned cherry pie filling because I am not a fan of glop.
I imagine in 1950 canned blueberries were much more readily available than fresh - how times have changed - fresh blueberries are now so plentiful, and available almost all year, that I never use frozen blueberries either.
3) Blueberry Rhubarb Pie - page 306.
I have a confession - I never noticed this recipe until I started this project but last year I started adding rhubarb to my blueberry pies of my own volition for three reasons. First, I was out of lemon juice and wanted to add a little tartness. Second, I have MASSIVE amounts of rhubarb growing in my backyard and am trying to find more ways to use it creatively. Third, my husband pretty much refuses to eat rhubarb - I snuck it into the blueberry pies and he never noticed and wolfed them right down :-)
The Betty Crocker version is half blueberry and half rhubarb. Mine is only about 1/4 rhubarb.
Overall the blueberry/rhubarb recipe is pretty much the same as the fresh blueberry pie on page 304 but I have found that you do have to be careful with the rhubarb.
To avoid a soggy gluey pie be sure you have let the rhubarb "sweat" for a while in a separate bowl. Do this by sprinkling some sugar over the diced rhubarb and let sit for at least 10 minutes. Drain all the juice and then sprinkle the diced rhubarb in amongst the blueberries. You can add plenty of sugar to the rhubarb after it is mixed into the rest of the filling but do NOT add flour to the rhubarb - it gets gluey if you do. Only add flour to the sugar mixture that will coat the blueberries.
4) Blueberries and Cream Pie - page 314
I have never made this and it looks pretty interesting so, in the spirit of this project I will make it and post a review.
Final Note: If you are a pie novice looking for your first fruit pie, nothing could be easier than blueberry - just wash the berries and check for stems and you are ready to go! No coring, peeling, slicing, pitting etc.
As Always: If you own a copy of the Betty Crocker Picture cookbook (1950 edition) I hope I've inspired you to take another good look at it. If you don't have a copy they are pretty easy to find on ebay and other sources for old used books.
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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