Blueberry Pie! (Pie Week Day 1!!)

(Disclaimer: all recipes being shared here were recipes I learned in my baking class. Just sharing my own notes, they're not of my own invention)

Okay so we're going to start this pie week with one of my new favorites!! :) I wasn't even always a big blueberry fan, but lately I've been loving me some blueberries! YUM :) Hope you guys enjoy it, and if you try & make it, let me know in the comments how it turned out!! :)

P.s. - Remember to check out the recipe for the crust here, if you haven't yet!

BLUEBERRY PIE FILLING

Yield: 8 lb. (3.6 kg) - (About 4 pies)

• Canned blueberries, #10 can, unsweetened -      1
• Granulated sugar -                              1 lb. 12 oz.
• Cornstarch -                                              4.5 oz.
• Water -                                                    8 fl. oz.
• Cinnamon, ground -                    0.04 oz. (½ tsp.)
• Lemon juice -                                           1 fl. oz.
• Lemon zest, grated fine -             0.2 oz. (1 Tbsp.)

1. Drain the juice from the canned blueberries, reserving both the fruit and the juice.
2. Measure the juice and, if necessary, add enough water to provide 1 quart (1 liter) of liquid. Bring to a boil, add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
3. Dissolve the cornstarch in 8 fluid ounces (240 milliliters) of water.
4. Add the cornstarch to the boiling juice and return to a boil. Cook until the mixture thickens and clears. Remove from the heat.
5. Add the cinnamon, lemon juice, lemon zest and reserved blueberries. Stir gently to coat the fruit with the glaze.
6. Allow the filling to cool to room temperature, then use it to fill prebaked pie shells or other pastry items. 

*NOTE - As you can see, this recipe calls for pre-baked shells! There are different ways you can blind bake a shell. What I've learned & recommend is to put some saran wrap and fill it with either baking beans, or pennies, or rice... But fill it pretty much all the way, and wrap it in saran wrap like a little baggie. This is a good idea, because after the pie is cooked through you can re-use the 'baggie' for other crusts :) The blind baking is needed like this so the sides of the pie won't fall in during the cooking process! 

I chose to top it with a lattice top & cook for a little longer. That
caused the blueberry filling to cook and kind of overflow it. The lattice
top is NOT needed though, so you can just fill it and not mess it up like me ;)

Come back tomorrow for an all-american Cherry Pie, specially for 4th of July! :)