Two Fat Cats’ Wild Maine Blueberry Pie
Photo Credit: Christina Wnek PhotographyPortland is arguably New England’s best bakery town, and Two Fat Cats is one of our favorites. It’s the kind of classic bakery where you buy your kids’ birthday cakes, where the pie can cure whatever ails you, and where you stop on a whim for a simple but unimprovable chocolate chip cookie. But they also make an outstanding blueberry pie, which is why senior food editor Amy Traverso spent an afternoon baking with their team as part of a segment on Maine blueberries for a season three episode of Weekends with Yankee. We filmed the blueberry harvest in Machias, Maine, then returned to the Two Fat Cats kitchen to pile a mix of blueberries, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar into a flaky crust.
Co-owner Stacy Begin recommends baking this pie with unthawed frozen berries for two reasons: Freezing sets the berries’ pigment, which makes a prettier filling, and the cold fruit keeps the fat in the crust from melting before it hits the oven.
Ingredients
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
¾ teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
5 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
6–8 tablespoons ice water
2 tablespoons milk, for brushing
Instructions
First, make the crust: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Sprinkle the butter and shortening over the dry ingredients and use your fingertips to gently rub them into the mixture so that they form flakes and small lumps. The dough will begin to take on a pale yellow color and look a bit like lumpy cornmeal. Add the ice water, a few tablespoons at a time, until the dough holds together but isn’t sticky or wet. Divide into two equal parts. Wrap each in plastic wrap, press into disks, and chill for at least one hour.
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