By Cody turned nineteen on Thursday January tenth. The first home birthday in three years. I baked him a cake on Wednesday afternoon — the Kathy chocolate-chip cake from my Valentine 2017 entry, his choice when I asked him what he wanted. He had two slices on the actual birthday and the leftovers ran out by Sunday.
And the recipe Sunday for the regular post was blueberry cream pie because the recipe was a deliberate callback to the morning in July 2016 when Cody came out of his bedroom for blueberry-yogurt pancakes for the first time after the eight-day disappearance. The blueberries that day had come from Aldi at $1.99 a pint. Sunday, with the same Aldi $1.99 sale (it runs every January), I bought two pints and made a blueberry cream pie.
The recipe is from A Family Feast. A graham cracker crust pressed into a pie pan, filled with a sweetened cream cheese and whipped cream filling, topped with a cooked blueberry sauce, garnished with fresh blueberries.
The math: graham crackers $1.49, butter, cream cheese $1.99, sugar, vanilla, heavy cream $1.49, two pints of blueberries $3.98, lemon zest, cornstarch. Total: about $8.95 for a 9-inch pie that fed Mama, Cody, and me for four desserts.
The technique is the cream cheese filling whipped with whipped cream until light. The blueberry topping is half the blueberries cooked down with sugar and lemon zest into a sauce, the other half folded in fresh at the end.
Mama said, eating, baby, this is the Sunday morning pancakes turned into a pie.
The recipe is below. The trick is the half-cooked half-fresh blueberry topping.
Blueberry Cream Pie
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes (includes chilling) | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust (9-inch)
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, divided
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp lemon zest (optional)
Instructions
- Make the blueberry topping. Combine 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, water, and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens and the berries begin to burst, about 6—8 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in lemon zest if using, and let cool completely to room temperature.
- Whip the cream. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the heavy whipping cream in a chilled bowl on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 3—4 minutes. Set aside.
- Make the cream filling. In a separate bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with the powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Fold in the whipped cream gently until fully combined and no streaks remain.
- Assemble the pie. Spread the cream cheese filling evenly into the graham cracker crust. Scatter the remaining 1 cup of fresh blueberries over the top of the cream layer, then spoon the cooled blueberry topping over everything, spreading gently to cover.
- Chill before serving. Refrigerate the pie for at least 2 hours (or overnight) until set. Slice cold and serve with additional whipped cream if desired.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 390 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 23g | Carbs: 44g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 190mg