French blueberry pie

Tarte aux myrtilles — French blueberry pie — comes from the mountain regions of France, where wild bilberries stain fingers purple every summer and every village bakery has its own version of this buttery, jewel-topped tart.

It is simpler than American blueberry pie — one crisp pâte sucrée shell, blind-baked, holding a barely-thickened blueberry filling, finished with an apricot glaze for that patisserie shine.

Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream or chilled with powdered sugar — the French argue for both, which means both are correct.

Tarte aux Myrtilles Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes (plus 40 minutes chilling) · Cook time: about 50 minutes · Total: about 1¾ hours · Servings: 6 · Calories: ~294 per serving

Ingredients

• For the crust:
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water
• For the filling:
• 4 cups fresh blueberries (or thawed frozen)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• For the glaze (optional):
• ¼ cup apricot jam
• 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

1. Pulse the flour and sugar, add the chilled butter to coarse crumbs, then mix in the yolk and ice water a spoonful at a time until a dough forms. Chill 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Roll the dough to a 12-inch circle, fit it into a 9-inch tart pan, trim, prick the bottom, and chill 10 minutes.
3. Blind bake with parchment and weights 15 minutes, remove the weights, and bake 5 to 7 minutes more, until lightly golden. Cool.
4. Toss the blueberries with the sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, lemon juice and cinnamon.
5. Fill the cooled crust and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until bubbling with a golden rim.
6. Warm the apricot jam with the water and brush over the warm berries for shine.
7. Cool before slicing — the filling needs the pause to set.

Recipe Notes

• Wild blueberries (fresh or frozen) are closest to true French myrtilles — smaller, darker, more intense.
• The apricot glaze is the patisserie secret worth adopting everywhere.
• It keeps 2 days covered — chilled slices with crème fraîche are the day-two reward.