This pie recipe would not begin out like most. There have been no nostalgic ideas of grandma cooking one thing on Sunday mornings after church or dreamy recollections of selecting blueberries in North Georgia with the household a yr in the past. No, it began with a secular semi-annual cleansing provide run in shops.
With no plan for the day apart from checking off my to-do record, I took the time to absorb each scent of Mrs. Meyer’s dishwashing cleaning soap earlier than making my choice. Once I picked up the lavender selection, a fast whiff screamed to me internally “This is able to make a scrumptious pie.” But it surely was late spring and I wasn’t certain what seasonal fruit (if any) would pair effectively with lavender for a pie till one other eureka hit me: blueberries.
I began jogging my reminiscence for this taste mixture and I used to be reminded of just one. Just a few summers in the past, I briefly loved a style of wildberry lavender ice cream and thought that the recent tartness of Georgia blueberries can be one of the best substitute for no matter berries made the “wildberry.” I started to formulate a plan to implement this concept.
As any scientist (or science fanatic) is aware of, throughout the scientific methodology course of we should first ask a query we do not already know the reply to “Would lavender work with pie?” Subsequent, we are going to do our analysis. A hearty google search and a few angled pages “Summerland” by Ann Quatrano gave constructive outcomes. My confidence was rising that this was changing into extra of a chance than an issue and thus arrived at a speculation: With recent Georgia blueberries, lemon zest and a splash of lavender extract, you might make a scrumptious pie. Lastly, I used to be prepared to begin testing.
In my analysis, I got here throughout an necessary word about pie baking: All the time use a darkish coated pan, glass pie pans will depart you with a soggy crust as a result of they do not conduct warmth in addition to steel pans. With provides bought, analysis executed and my private recipe ledger open and able to take notes, I used to be able to experiment. The scientific methodology says I would like a management group for the experiment. I made a decision to make 4 mini pies (5″ steel pie pans) to begin: the primary can be the unique blueberry lavender pie (management), one can be the management with cinnamon, the subsequent can be the management with peach, and at last the management with peach and cinnamon.
The tactic was working. The grids have been positioned, and the temperature was set at 400°F. We have been able to bake. After 15 excruciating minutes and a tin foil tent, the check topics arrived fantastically golden and their fillings bubbled with the mushy scent of lavender wafting by way of the air. When an hour of cooling had handed, the ultimate check was performed for which I needed to enlist a helper, who took on the daunting problem of serving to me eat and style the items.
And it so occurred that my guess proved appropriate: with recent blueberries, lemon zest and a splash of lavender important oil, you may make a scrumptious pie. Nevertheless, experiments with the addition of peaches and cinnamon yielded much more rewarding (pun meant) outcomes. Blueberry Lavender Peach Pie was born and you will discover the total recipe at Southern Kitchen the place I am sharing it at this time.