Last week I gave a slice of pie to my half-Finnish neighbor, and he repaid the favor with more blueberries. Since one can never have too many blueberry pie recipes, I made mustikkapiirakka, which is the Finnish version of a blueberry pie. Mustikka means bilberry, and piirakka means pie, but the term for our lowbush blueberries is Kanadanmustikka. Kanadanmustikkapiirakka is an example of why I’ll likely never learn Finnish, so I just went with the slightly shorter term.
Mustikkapiirakka has a unique part-rye pressed-in cookie crust which is great for those who hate rolling out standard pie crusts. The tangy sour cream filling is reminiscent of cheesecake, and can have added flavorings such
Mustikkapiirakka
Ingredients
Crust:
1 stick salted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup rye flour (I used Homestead Mills)
1 teaspoon baking powder
Filling:
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup wild blueberries, divided
Small blueberry leaves for garnishing
Instructions
Crust:
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and extract until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together both flours and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 10-inch tart pan or 9-inch deep dish pie pan. Once chilled, press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the center puffs up and the surface appears dry. Using a spoon or small cup, gently press down the center of the crust, leaving a 1/4 inch ledge around the edge.
Filling:
In a large bowl, beat together the sour cream, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of blueberries over the pie crust, then pour the filling over the berries. Scatter the remaining blueberries on top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until the filling is set but still jiggles slightly in the center. Cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate for 2 hours. Garnish with blueberry leaves.
Yield: 8 servings.
