nerakrose: image of tomatoes and green stuff, with a white banner and the text ❤ food ❤. (food)
nerakrose ([personal profile] nerakrose) wrote in [community profile] gluten_free2019-04-03 08:10 pm

Recipe: Finnish blueberry* pie

*bilberry, to be technical, though in our languages we call them blueberries.

Better late than never?

I got this recipe from a dishtowel, and while the original recipe is for wheat flour, I've not yet had any issues just using the same amount of gf flour instead. This pie crust does not require blind baking! I would actually advice against it. The crust will burn (I tried, once, and will not repeat that mistake). The filling is light enough that the crust will bake through and not get soggy. 

Crust

100g melted butter (or other fat)
1/2 dl sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 dl flour**
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cardamom***

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together. The dough should have roughly the same texture and firmness as a cookie dough and it shouldn't be SUPER greasy (if it is, you need more flour), but there is quite a lot of butter in it, so you should still be able to see and feel that, if that makes sense? So basically, you want a firm dough that isn't super greasy, BUT pliable enough that you can press it into a pie tin with your hands pretty easily. (Don't roll the dough.) Your pie tin should be greased before you press the dough into it. Don't worry if you can't get the dough to be perfectly plain, mine always has knuckle impressions but comes out fine anyway. Just make sure you won't have any extremely thin spots!

Filling


4 dl bilberries (can be frozen)
1/2 dl milk
2 dl quark****
appr. 1/2 dl sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla sugar (or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)

Spread the bilberries over the unbaked pie crust. Mix the rest of the filling in a bowl and spread over the bilberries. Bake the pie at 200°C for about 30 minutes. Let cool before serving and keep in fridge. It'll last a few days at least. It freezes well.


Notes

**Depending on the flour mix you use, you might need more flour than this. I don't have exact measurements because I eyeball it - when the dough looks and feels right, I stop adding flour. I've made this pie with Provena Gluten Free Baking Flour With Oats, Semper Fin Mix, and both of those mixed with plain oat flour, and they all came out great. (Another option could be to google how much 2 1/2 dl wheat flour weighs, and go from there.)

*** in Finland you use this kind of cardamom for baking. It's coarsely ground, not powdered, which creates visible cardamum flecks in the dough and finished bake. (For this recipe, I'd use half of a stick like that. Iirc an 8g stick is a tablespoon.) You can ofc use powdered cardamum if you'd prefer, or omit it entirely - I've made this crust with vanilla instead of cardamum on a few occasions, and it came out great as well (smells like vanilla cookies!)

**** if quark isn't available, another firm dairy product like cream cheese, greek yoghurt, or skyr, can be used - use your best judgement; you know what the dairy available in your region is like! If the dairy product you use is on the runny side, leave out the milk and add another half decilitre of your chosen dairy product.

The pie will be 'wobbly' and look like the filling hasn't baked when you take it out, but rest assured that it is. You just need to let it cool completely to let it set before you cut into it.

This pie is also great with other berries in the filling! A popular mix in Finland and Scandinavia is the 'queen mix' which is raspberries and bilberries. Another popular mix is the 'forest mix', which is raspberries, strawberies, redcurrants and blackcurrants. I've had this pie with just strawberries (halved) as well. Honestly, you could probably do this with any fruit you like, but us Nordic folks like to stick to the summer berry classics mentioned here. :D

Photos

Last time I made this:


This was made with the Provena baking mix and oat flour, ratio approximately 2/3 baking mix and 1/3 oat flour. I also like to set aside a few berries to sprinkle on top of the dairy mix so that I get visible berries in the surface.

The diameter of my pie tin is 26cm. A smaller tin would probably mean a taller pie filling wise? I don't know, I only have the one tin.
runpunkrun: silverware laid out on a cloth napkin (gather yon utensils)

It's always the right time for pie.

[personal profile] runpunkrun 2019-04-03 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
I love that you got the recipe from a towel!! And that it works! Thanks for all the great notes and options, too. I know how hard it is to write up a recipe for something you mainly eyeball.
runpunkrun: silverware laid out on a cloth napkin (gather yon utensils)

Re: It's always the right time for pie.

[personal profile] runpunkrun 2019-04-04 06:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I hear you. Converting from weight to volume is a messy, ridiculous process that often ends up with some really silly numbers. Especially in the USA where our volume measurement system is already incredibly silly.
mific: Donkey with worried expression, ears askew (Baffled donkey)

[personal profile] mific 2019-04-04 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Hi, dl isn't a measure I know. What does it mean? Thanks!
jesse_the_k: BBC John Watson looks puzzled with white puzzle piece floating above him (JW puzzled)

[personal profile] jesse_the_k 2019-04-04 03:58 pm (UTC)(link)
dL or dl = "deciliter" aka one-tenth of a liter
around .422 US cup

10 deciliters = 1 liter

1 deciliter = 100 milliliters
mific: (choc-strawb)

[personal profile] mific 2019-04-05 08:30 am (UTC)(link)
Kay thanks!
mific: (choc-strawb)

[personal profile] mific 2019-04-05 08:31 am (UTC)(link)
Useful!
jesse_the_k: Six silver spoons with enamel handles (fancy ass spoons)

[personal profile] jesse_the_k 2019-04-04 04:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Ahhhh, the mysteries of quark--it sounds so tasty.

Can you comment on the taste difference between blueberries and bilberries?

I'm guessing that some of the flour seeps up into the filling to help stabilize it.
mific: (choc-strawb)

[personal profile] mific 2019-04-05 08:40 am (UTC)(link)
Here is a reference! http://www.dlc.fi/~marian1/gourmet/i_berry.htm. Scroll down for the bilberry/blueberry comparison.

I bet this tart would be yummy using raspberries as well.
runpunkrun: glazed donut, text: USA (donut)

[personal profile] runpunkrun 2019-04-07 05:11 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a really helpful site, mific! Now, excuse me while, as an American, I weep over our tasteless berries.