How to make a Beautiful Apple-Blueberry Pie with a Lattice Top

Wishing you a healthy and safe Thanksgiving

Let's celebrate the holidays with this traditional, elegant and delicious pie 

filled with crisp and sweet apples and juicy blueberries

This year Thanksgiving dinner might look a bit different. But your dessert doesn't have to! 

We all know that no holiday meal is complete without pie. So, no matter how big or small your gathering is going to be, you can still celebrate with one of these... THE classic, THE most-loved and always welcomed at any table any day of the year: THE apple pie!

As always, for this pie I'm doing the extra effort and making the crust for scratch. After all, your pie can only be as good as the crust you're going to whip up. If you feel that it's too time consuming, please remember: first, you can make it ahead of time (I always do). And second, if you use a food processor it really only takes a few minutes of your time to assemble. You don't have to get all fancy with the lattice top like I did here. The top can be as simple or as fancy as you desire. You can read more about my step-by-step recipe on how to make a flaky and buttery homemade pie crust with a food processor.  

Now, let's take a look at this filling. I've added a handful of blueberries with the apple slices for some extra sweetness and a pop of color and flavor. But you can just have apples if you prefer. What I do strongly recommend is to let the apple slices sit at room temperature in a colander for at least 30 minutes when coated with lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar. They will release a lot of their juice which means they will not shrink as much when baking (so no half-empty pie shell at the end!). Use the juice released by the apples, mix with a little butter and simmer until it gets thick and golden and add this amazing syrup to the filling (all or just some of it). Trust me, it will be worth the extra step!

One last word of advise: serve warm with a big scoop of ice-cream. THE best!

Wishing you a healthy and safe Thanksgiving! I hope your day is filled with love, laughter and lots of yummy food. Thank you for all the love and support you always show me. I'm very grateful for all of you. 

 If you are interested, here are a few more dessert recipes for you: Thanksgiving Desserts.

Other pie or tart recipes you might like:

Made-from-Scratch Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pie

Cranberry-Apple Pie

Rustic Apple Crostata

Homemade Pie Crust

Apple Crumble Tart

Salted Caramel-Chocolate Tart

Ricotta and Berry Tart

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

Peach and Blueberry Galette

INGREDIENTS:

1. • YIELD: 1 9 inch (23 cm) pie serving about 8 people

     For the crust:
     

     • 3 cups (375 gr) all-purpose flour 
     • 1 teaspoon  salt 
     • 3 tablespoons (45 gr) sugar 
     • 8 oz. (230 gr) unsalted butter, cold 
     • about 1/2 cup (120 ml) chilled water 

     For the filling:
     

     • 2 lb (950 gr) apples, about 6 medium (you can use fiji, granny smith, pink lady or any combination of htese)
     • 1/4 cup (50 gr) brown sugar 
     • 1/3 cup (65 gr) granulated sugar 
     • 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
     • juice of half lemon, about 1 tablespoon 
     • 6 oz. (170 gr) blueberry
     • 2 tablespoons  butter 
     • 1 tablespoon cornstarch 
     • 1 egg, for eggwash
     • 1 tablespoon milk, for eggwash 
     • crystallized sugar (for decoration - optional) 

PREPARATION:

TIME: one hour, plus about 2 hours inactive

For the dough: In a large bowl, add the flour, salt and sugar. Mix to combine. 

Add the butter (right from the refrigerator), cut into small cubes.  Cut with a pastry cutter or a the round tip of a knife until the butter is cut down in small pea-size pieces. You can also do this step in a food processor, pulsing a few times until you get a crumbly mixture. 

Add about 6 tablespoons of chilled water. Mix and add more water until the dough comes together. Don't overmix and don't add too much water. 

Move the dough to the counter, and knead for a minute if needed. Split the dough in two halves. 

Make each into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer. You can also prepare the dough a day in advance and store in the refrigerator.

While you wait for the dough to chill, prepare the filling. 

Peel the apples, remove the core, and cut in slices of about 1/4 of an inch (half cm). 

Place in a large bowl, and combine with lemon juice, brown and white sugar, and cinnamon. Let the apples sit in a colander for at least 30 minutes to release the juices.

Preheat the oven to 400° F (200° C). 

Roll one piece of dough into a 12 inches (30 cm) circle. Transfer to a 9 inch pie pan, helping yourself with a rolling pin. Cover the pan with the dough, pushing down gently, without stretching. 

Prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork

Collect the juice from the apples, add to a pan and simmer with two tablespoons of butter, for about five minutes. You will get a golden slightly dense syrup. 

Add the cornstarch and the blueberries to the apple slices, and mix. Pour the fruit mixture onto the prepared pie crust. Pack it with your hand and even it out. Drizzle with the syrup that you just prepared.

For the lattice top: Cut the second half of the dough in two parts. Roll both halved into two 10 inch circles. Cut into 6 1-inch strips. On the counter, work the lattice like this: 

Gently, place the lattice on top of the pie. 

Fold the extra edges under. 

And seal the edges by decorating with a fluted patter. 

Using your index finger on one hand, push the dough through the index and middle fingers of your other hand, as shown in my picture.

For the eggwash: beat one egg with one tablespoon of milk. Brush well the eggwash on the top and edges of the pie. 

Sprinkle with crystallized sugar if you like. 

Bake at 400° F (200° C) for 30 minutes, in the lower third of the oven. After the 30 minutes, check the pie. Cover with a pie shield or with aluminum foil if the edges or top are starting to golden too soon. Lower the oven temperature to 350° F (175° C).  I moved mine down to the lower rack of my oven. Bake for an additional 20 minutes or so. Check the bottom, if cooked, and the top should be perfectly golden brown.

Serve warm or a room temperature.... maybe with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream!
You can store at room temperature for up to a day, or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Enjoy :)