Classic Blueberry Pie

Name: Classic Blueberry Pie
Yield: Serves 6 to 8 (Makes one 9-inch pie)
Ingredients: 2 1/4 cups, unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting; 1 teaspoon, table salt; 2 tablespoons, granulated sugar; 11 tablespoons, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes; 7 tablespoons, vegetable shortening, chilled; 1/3 cup, water, chilled with ice, increasing up to 3/8 cup, if needed; 3 pints, fresh blueberries (6 cups), rinsed and picked over; 3/4 cup, granulated sugar; 1 , small lemon, zested to yield 1 teaspoon zest and juiced to yield 2 teaspoons juice; 1/4 teaspoon, ground allspice; Pinch, ground nutmeg; 3–4 tablespoons, quick-cooking tapioca; 2 tablespoons, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated July/August 1995

Desserts or Baked Goods

Testing shows that tapioca is the thickener of choice for fruit pies with delicate texture and bright, fresh fruit flavor.

SERVES6 to 8 (Makes one 9-inch pie)

TIME2 hours, plus 30 minutes chilling and 1 hour cooling

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

For many years we have tried using flour and cornstarch to thicken fresh fruit pies, but the results have been uniformly poor. After testing cornstarch, flour, tapioca, and arrowroot, we found that the samples of fruit thickened with the ro...

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