Claire Ptak’s recipes for blueberry pie

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This article titled "Claire Ptak’s recipes for blueberry pie" was written by Claire Ptak, for The Guardian on Saturday 13th August 2016 05.00 UTC

Summer is a time for pies. In America we are obsessed with them. Pie contests are the pride of every county fair and in recent years they have made a comeback in cities, too. No longer are they the stuff of roadside diners: entire bakeries are now dedicated to pies.

When I left California for London, my brother threw me a going-away party. He and his friends dug a pit in the ground where they built a fire, over which they suspended a pig bought from a local rancher. They turned and basted it all night long, until the succulent meat fell from the bones. They made enormous salads from garden-grown vegetables. They also asked guests to bring beers … or a pie. On the meadow, two long trestle tables covered with red-and-white chequered tablecloths were packed end to end with more than 30 pies: blackberry, apple, pluot, raspberry, chocolate, Shaker lemon, key lime, huckleberry and, of course, blueberry pie.

Related: Claire Ptak’s recipe for cakey doughnuts glazed with blackberry syrup | Baking

During my days working as the pastry chef of the HF Bar dude ranch in Wyoming, I made blueberry pies every week in August. Blueberries are more of an east coast thing, and the dudes were primarily from that part of the country, so I thought they’d welcome the sight of them at the end of a long day on horseback in the Bighorn Mountains. My hunch was right, and it became one of my most popular bakes.

My biggest fan was a wrangler called Brian Riva. I could hear him coming into the ranch house before I could see him in his Wrangler jeans, tan leather roper boots, blue shirt with pearled snap closures and Stetson. He could smell the pie on his walk down from the corral. “Blue. Berry. Pie,” he’d bellow. “I smell Blue. Berry. Pie.” There is nothing quite like that kind of solid affirmation to make you love what you do. In homage, I’ve included two takes on blueberry pie here: a classic lattice and a buckle – an old-fashioned crumble cake brimming with blueberries, which makes quite the breakfast.

‘Quite the breakfast’: Claire’s blueberry crumble or ‘buckle’. Photograph: Kristen Perers for the Guardian

Blueberry buckle

Serves 8

For the cake base
100g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
280g cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp fine salt
1 tbsp lemon zest (one large lemon)
150g plain yoghurt
1 tbsp vanilla
300g blueberries

For the topping
60g plain flour
100g caster sugar
¼ tsp fine salt
½ tsp cinnamon
60g unsalted butter
60g walnuts, chopped

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Butter and line a 23cm round baking dish with parchment.

2 For the base, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.

3 In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a third bowl, mix together the lemon zest, yoghurt and vanilla.

4 Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar, mix, then add the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth, then mix through the blueberries. Pour into the prepared baking tin and set aside.

5 Now make the topping. Mix the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until the mixture is at a sandy texture. Stir in the chopped walnuts.

6 Sprinkle this mixture over the cake batter, allowing some of the base to peek through. Bake for an hour. Serve with yoghurt and a drizzle of honey.

Blueberry lattice pie

Serves 8

For the pastry
280g sifted plain flour
1 tsp fine salt
170g butter
6 tbsp iced water
2 tbsp milk, for brushing
2 tbsp caster sugar, for sprinkling

For the filling
150g caster sugar
4 tbsp cornflour
A pinch of salt
850g blueberries
Zest of 1 lemon, plus 1 tbsp of the juice
25g unsalted butter, cold

1 In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Cut in half of the butter very well, then cut in the second half into pea-size pieces.

Slice strips of dough and begin to cover your blueberry pie filling. Photograph: Kristen Perers for the Guardian

2 Sprinkle over the iced water and toss it through the mix as you go. It should eventually come together into a ball. Wrap the pastry in clingfilm, flatten into a disc and rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

3 In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornflour and salt. Add the blueberries, lemon zest and juice, stir and leave to macerate for 20 minutes, then stir again. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.

4 Split the pastry into two, then roll out thinly. Use one half to line a 20cm round pie dish. Spoon in the blueberry filling, then dot with the cold butter. Roll out the second half of the pastry and slice for a lattice top.

5 Assemble the lattice, brush with milk and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake for 40-50 minutes.

• Claire Ptak is a pastry chef, author and food stylist and owns Violet Bakery in London. She is the author of the Violet Bakery Cookbook (Square Peg); @violetcakeslondonS

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