Momma Told Me: When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing.
When I was a young girl, no older than 4 or 5, Momma would call me into her bed each night (thinking back my bedtime was probably 4 or 5 in the afternoon, but I digress) to read me a story from the official
Grimm's Fairy Tales compilation. It was a large paperback book with more pages than any I had seen before, outside perhaps Merriam Webster's Dictionary, and out of the top smiled a Persian cat bookmarking where we had last dropped off. Now these weren't the colorful storybook fairy tales of traditional childhood, these were the unabridged, dark and brooding adaptations much closer to the originals. And, while some might question Momma's thinking in choosing to share these from such a young age, I assure you she always read ahead to lighten the darker parts.
Naturally, as a little girl who knew that Disney's fairy tales and Grimm's actual tales were far from one in the same- that at the end of
The Little Mermaid Ariel is in fact offered a knife to kill her beloved prince and return to the sea, and much like the modern
Into The Woods feature film indicates the stepsisters in Cinderella did indeed cut off parts of their feet in an attempt to fit them into the Prince's slipper. Morbid as this may seem, my ultimate point is that fairy tales were never intended for children at all- many of the stories we have sweetened up with fairies and talking mice were in fact meant as cautionary tales to bored adults and the men and women of the king's court.
What does this have to do with Blueberry Pie, you ask? Well, after recently watching, and thoroughly enjoying, Into The Woods in theaters this past holiday, I was reminded of the Grimm's fairy tales my mother used to read before bedtime. One in particular stood out- the tale behind the nursery rhyme 'Sing A Song Of Sixpence,' perhaps one of the first retold recollections of an animated pie. While historians gather the actual pie was likely of minced meat, it is more colorfully told that blackbirds swiftly emerged from the crust of this berry pie, when placed before the king. As crazy as it sounds, and an element of the tale that seems more exaggerated rather than real there are numerous accounts of 13th century pies bursting of living creatures from birds and small animals to actual tiny humans (dwarfs.)
So, while I wasn't about to craft any 4 foot pies with small animals inside, I was inspired to try my hand at a traditional storybook pie- Blueberry with a Winter comfort twist. I'll be honest, I've only ever used blueberries in scones, and never handled fresh blueberries (primarily because they can be so expensive,) so I was a bit nervous when I set out. I happened to have 2 deep dish pie shells in the freezer from the holidays (so I can't take credit for those) which especially motivated me to get in the kitchen yesterday and give this recipe a try.
I'm no Martha Stewart, but there is something inspiring about working with fresh ingredients- watching the rich blue berries cook to a beautiful purple. Naturally, halfway through baking I remembered I didn't own a pie crust shield (hard to believe, right) and had to emergency tent my crust rim to keep it from overcooking. Thankfully that worked like a charm, a few scalded knuckles later. I was skeptical about the streusel topping, but 20 minutes cooling on the window sill, in true storybook fashion, and this pie looked picture perfect- no small animals harmed in the making!
So try this Blueberry Custard Pie hot or cold (it was the biggest hit cold in our house,) and bake an extra to gift for a friend or neighbor- jut leave the birds out. As far as pie making goes this recipe's pretty straight forward, but the comfort level of a heaping slice does wonders after a long day.
What was your favorite fairy tale growing up- what would you love to grab a slice and curl up while reading?
What Daughter Says: This recipe is sure to put smiles on your guests faces, no animals harmed int he making.
Blueberry Custard Pie
