Blueberries and Cream Pie with Crunchy Walnut Topping

Georg called this "the perfect pie." I was pleased, because that's exactly what I was going for: Georg said he was craving pie, I had time for a baking project, so I spent the morning combing the internet for a pie recipe that would combine all of his favorite things. Aren't I a good wife. No, it's really just that I need a job and until I find the right one, I have lots of time on my hands to dream up perfect pies for Georg.

I found this pie on the Epicurious website, and I knew immediately that if it turned out right, Georg would love it. He loves blueberries, he loves tangy yogurts, creams, and cheeses, and he loves walnuts. I read a lot of the comments from people that had made the pie, and they were generally positive, so I decided to go for it.

The recipe included instructions for a pie crust dough, but I had been wanting to try out Alton Brown's pie crust recipe (his scientific approach seems to make me trust him more), so I decided to use that. I watched the episode of Good Eats on which this recipe was featured, and Brown promised the most wonderful, tender, flaky crust. I followed the food processor instructions. The crust did have excellent flavor, and it was tender, but it didn't quite have the flakiness I'd hoped for. In fact, it was a little flat, and it shrunk like crazy in the oven while baking. I might have added too much water or something like that--it seemed pretty easy to mess up the recipe's finicky instructions. I'll have to give it another chance sometime. I tend not to have the best luck with pastry. I will say that the best pie crust I've ever made was the one that went with this recipe for Piled-High Peach Pie. That was a good crust--I made it without a food processor, it was easy, and it was everything I feel a crust should be.

The filling of this pie is made with sour cream, which creates a nice, tangy flavor. It's sweetened with sugar, lightened with an egg, and further flavored with almond extract. I did increase the almond extract to double what the recipe called for--many of the reviewers of the recipe online recommended it. I thought the end result had a perfect amount of almond flavor.

The topping is made of butter cut into flour with sugar and nuts. When baked, it browned on top and created a crunchy layer which was a nice foil to the smooth blueberries and cream filling.

I highly recommend this pie, especially while the summer's blueberries are still in season! I can imagine this would be good with other fruits, too--raspberries, peaches, strawberries, etc. cut into small pieces.