Blueberry almond mini pies

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Pairing blueberries with almonds

If you asked François Chartier why two flavours work well together or why certain foods will play well with each other, he'll tell you that it's because they share a common thread, and that thread is a compound that both foods possess. He's written a book on the subject: "Taste Buds and Molecules," which is a really awesome read and one that I'd highly recommend, especially if you are curious about flavours and molecules and food-wine pairings (it's even been translated into English and is available on Amazon).

Following that train, we could probably explain why almonds and blueberries work well together. We know benzaldehyde is responsible for that deep almond flavour, and I'm quite sure it's also present in blueberries, at least to a small extent. Is that why blueberries and almonds work so well together? I guess the short answer is maybe! Almonds go well with apricots, cherries, and many types of berries, all of which contain benzaldehyde.

In my mind, blueberries and marzipan are a delightful match. The British call pies filled with almond cream or frangipane and fruit (or jam) "Bakewells," so I guess that's actually what these are. I'm still calling them pie. If you aren't a fan of frangipane, you can always make these blueberry hand pies. Or you can always make blueberry white chocolate cookies.

Almond cream ratio

Almond cream is made from equal parts by weight of ground almond, butter, and icing sugar. The French baking term for equal parts is tant-pour-tant. There's an egg mixed into this mixture that adds richness, and flavour, and also binds the ingredients together, making it more creamy than a straight nut + butter + icing sugar mixture would be on its own.

Though many bakers use the terms almond cream and frangipane interchangeably this isn't quite true. Almond cream is an ingredient in frangipane. Once you've made the almond cream, you can mix it with pastry cream (crème pâtissière) to make the frangipane. In this recipe, we are using almond cream, which is also the filling for a classic galette des rois.

What to do with pie dough scraps

Inevitably, when you make a pie, you will be left with a pile of pie dough scraps. Gather them up and press them together to shape them into a disk and use them to make pie crust cookies!

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Blueberry almond mini pies

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These mini blueberry almond pies are very similar to the British bakewells: little pies filled with almond cream and fruit (or jam)

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword blueberry almond pies

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 30 mini pies

Calories 158kcal

Author Janice

Equipment

• Round cutters
• Rolling pin
• Pastry brush
• Sheet pan

Ingredients

Pie dough

• 400 grams (3¼ cups) bleached all-purpose flour
• 200 grams (14 tablespoon) unsalted butter, diced and kept very cold
• 125 mL (½ cup) cold water
• 1 pinch Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

Almond cream filling

• 100 grams (7 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 100 grams (¾ cup) icing sugar
• 100 grams (1 cup) ground almonds
• 1 large egg(s)
• 2.5 mL (½ teaspoon) pure almond extract

Assembly and finishing touches

• 150 grams (¼ lb) fresh blueberries
• 1 large egg(s), for the egg wash
• icing sugar , for dusting at the end

Instructions

Pie dough

• In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour with the butter and salt until the mixture ressembles a fine crumble. Drop in the water, and pulse again. I gave the food processor a good run until the dough wasn't moving.
• Transfer the dough to your work surface and split it in 2. Give each half a good pressing to form 2 discs of dough, then wrap them tightly and put them in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Almond cream filling

• Cream the butter with the icing sugar, then add the ground almonds mixing it in really well, and finally the egg and almond extract (I did all this by hand with a spatula in a medium bowl). Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge.

Assembly and finishing touches

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a cookie sheet with parchment. Roll out one half of the dough to about ⅛ inch thick, and cut out 3 ¾ inch circles (almost 4 inches).
• Place 2 levelled teaspoons of almond cream in the middle of each circle, and top with 3 or 4 blueberries.
• Brush the rim of each pastry round with egg and pinch into an open-centered triangle.
• Refrigerate the mini pies for 30 to 45 minutes
• Transfer the mini pies to the parchment-lined sheet pan. Bake the mini pies on the bottom rack for 15 minutes, then switch to the middle rack and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
• Let cool then dust with icing sugar before serving.
• Reroll the scraps to make more pies, and continue with the second disk of dough.

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Nutrition

Calories: 158kcal

If you are baking with blueberries and you notice the blueberries turned green or changed colour as they bake, don't panic. That could be the effect of pH on the colour of the berries, but that has zero impact on the flavour of the berries.