Saturday, July 9, 2011

A Charmed Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

Hello, friends! This is my inaugural post here at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen and I'm thrilled!

For the next twelve months, I am going to be posting about all things pie (and tart too) and will begin by announcing that the first book in my new Charmed Pie Shoppe Series, Pies and Prejudice, will be released a year from now.

Why is that exciting? Because it gives me a chance to launch a contest. In fact, I'm going to give away pie-related goodies every month, but this month, I'm looking for a pie recipe from one of you foodies to appear in Pies and Prejudice. If yours is picked, you'll appear as a walk-on character and your recipe will be printed in the book. I could really use a creamy pie. I've got one with apples and one with pecans and two savories already and could really use a meringue or a key lime, for example.

The Prize: My heroine, an unwitting enchantress named Ella Mae LeFaye, gets to work from the commercial kitchen in the back of her darling butter-yellow pie shop in the mountains of northwest Georgia. Most of us don't, so I've posted a pic of some of my favorite pie making tools. The recipe winner will get all the items pictured. (Yay!)
This should help you work a little of Ella Mae's "magic" in the kitchen.

And now, onto the Charmed Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

Ingredients:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
1 (9 inch) store-bought graham cracker crust
2/3 granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried

Directions:

Rinse blueberries and spread out to dry. Pick off any stems (my trusty assistant was assigned this task).

In a small bowl, blend cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. In a second bowl, use hand mixer to beat whipping cream until peaks form. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Spread onto graham cracker crust.

In a large saucepan, combine granulated sugar, cornstarch, water and lemon juice and stir until smooth. Stir in blueberries. Bring to a boil over medium head and cook for
2 minutes or until thickened. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until serving.
Garnish with a sprig of mint.

42 comments:

  1. Wow! That pie looks great! The best part is the crust! I dont have to roll it out.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks awesome! And your new series sounds like another one of those where I'll gain five pounds just reading it.

    Where do we submit recipes for the contest? I have one in mind that might work. It was my granny's signature pie and when I was a kid I could have eaten in three times a day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great question, Booklady! Just post the name of the pie here (and maybe a line saying what's it in) and I'm already DYING to here yours!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Welcome to the kitchen, Ellery!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Chocolate Meringue Pie. It has a creamy chocolate base that Granny always cooked on the stove using her cast iron skillet (which I inherited). And she made the crust from scratch (she tried teaching me - picture pie crust on the ceiling), and she would beat the egg whites for the meringue by hand. And the meringue was always a mile high and beautiful. My mother always tried to make this pie and her poor meringues would shrink and pull away from the the edges of the pie and end up as a tiny blob in the middle of the pie. When I bake this pie, the meringue looks much like Granny's - not quite as tall and it doesn't pull away from the edges, but once it's out of the oven, the meringue - falls, I guess - for lack of better word. Just makes miss her more. I might just have to try again this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, wow, Booklady! Drooling at 8:30 in the morn'.

    Thanks, Wendy! I already feel at home! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. A post on food in books -- http://readingadventures.blogspot.com/2011/07/weekend-cooking-writers-banquet-series.html

    May be back w/ pie.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Also, if you should need a guess the secret ingredient pie recipe, I have a Surprise Apple pie recipe that I found in a children's book a decade ago. I made it for the staff my new school this past Children's Book Week and offered a prize if they could guess the ingredient. Even my picky teen (the youngest hooligan) loves it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. NOW THAT IS INDEED A CONTEST!!!!

    OK, what are the rules, where do i submit??? How long do I have to come up with something???

    And can my character toss a meringue pie in someone's face... Always wanted to do that.

    Oh, and welcome to the blog!

    Dave

    ReplyDelete
  10. WooHoo! I've been picking blueberries for a week or so, this loooks like it will soon be on my menu!
    If you go over to my blog, http://oldentimes.wordpress.com and look around, there is a recipe for my semi-famous upside down lemon pie. The merengue is the crust that you might be interested in.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I wish I had an original and wonderful creamy pie recipe, but this recipe looks amazing! And so timely with blueberry season in full swing.

    I am really looking forward to the new series. It sounds wonderful!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dave, just post a comment here with the name/type of pie. I sure could use a meringue if you've got one!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Emilie Richards ran a pie contest and came up w/ some great choices, such as Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie -- http://www.emilierichards.com/blog/2011/07/our-grand-prize-winner-in-the-great-pie-prize-giveaway/

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh, yum, yum, yum--and no fair! So many pies, so little time!

    Love the Print Friendly option. Of course I print out all these recipes.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hard to limit myself to just one. so here are two faves. We had a frozen chocolate pecan pie last week (chocolate, pecans, brown sugar, whipped cream, rum) -- great summer dessert!, and another fave at our house is chocolate chip pie.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Welcome to the blog Ellery.

    I'm not a fan of pies, but I do love how they look and are presented.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Cathy, I've got a chocolate bourbon pecan pie in the book already. But the chocolate chip pie would be fun. I could add it to the kids' menu at the Charmed Pie Shoppe!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I am determined to convert you, Dru!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ellery - Pie is one of my favorite desserts! The pie you made for us today is indeed charmed and your new series sounds even more charming. (I also love the pic of your trusty, little assistant. :)

    Welcome to Mystery Lovers' Kitchen,
    ~ Cleo
    Coffeehouse Mystery.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'll admit to eating pie for breakfast sometimes. :) Especially one that looks as good as this! Can't wait to read the new series!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. LOL! Elizabeth, pie is the perfect 24 hour food. A perfect midnight snack and great for breakfast, too.

    Ellery, you're going to have a tough time deciding. All these pie suggestions sound delicious!

    ~ Krista

    ReplyDelete
  22. What a perfect addition to the kitchen. Pie! Nice to see you here, Ellery. I'm looking forward to your recipes and your new mysteries. Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Beautiful pie. And best of luck with your pie mysteries. They sound right up my alley. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Thank you for this, Ellery! And welcome to MLK - this is a splendid first post and I look forward to all of them. I'll be printing this recipe out right now.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Liz mentioned Emilie Richards. Her character in Sunset Bridge was told pies would be the next cupcakes, and it sounds like it, Ellery. My mother has won prizes with her pies, and, fortunately, I can successfully duplicate her crust recipe, the reason for those prizes. I'm looking forward to the series. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Cherry chocolate silk pie. I have quite decided if I'm going to put chopped maraschino cherries in the chocolate silk or top it with cherries steeped in Grand Marnier. In a graham cracker crust.
    I'm getting hungry looking at all the yummy recipes on here.

    ReplyDelete
  27. My favorite pie is from a restaurant in Portland Or called Papa Hydns. It's a peanut butter pie. We moved out of the area almost 12 years ago and have since been diagnosed gluten intolerant. My sweet husband found a recipe for a GF Peanut Butter pie that is every bit as good as I remember. He and the kids make it for my Birthday every December.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Emmett, I'm a pie lover!!! This looks fab!!!! I used to bake 20-30 pies every summer. We had berry vines. We'd freeze some for winter desserts. Now, of course, I need to have gluten-free crust, but they're still my favorite desserts!

    So excited about your new series.
    Hugs,
    Avery

    ReplyDelete
  29. Emmett? Yipes. I hate when spellcheck changes something.Ellery, so sorry!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Okay, Lesa! Now that I know that you've got to toss your towel in the ring! You must have one of your mama's pie recipes ready to submit!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Lol, Avery. I've used Emmett as a character, so that's a fortuitous error!

    ReplyDelete
  32. I have a creamy lemon mousse recipe that doubles as a pie filling in a pre-cooked shell, but I use whipped cream on top. Your blueberry cream pie recipe is going to send me to the store today. It sounds wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Has anyone read the poem 'Grandma's Sweet as Pie...'? It's a cute little poem about a pie lover who can not eat just one piece of pie, but the whole entire lot. Here are a few of my favorite pies:
    Coconut pie
    Chocolate Banana Cream pie
    Chocolate Coconut pie
    Coconut Custard pie
    Creamy French Silk pie - a chocolate pie
    Maple Banana Cream pie
    German Chocolate pie
    I know you mention you had fruit pies, but I had to mention these-
    Apricot pie
    Purple Plum pie
    Strawberry pie
    Pear pie
    And last I developed years ago a fairly good pie crust recipe :) I happen to have all the ingedients for your blueberry pie! It will be dessert tonight. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  34. Oops! My name is Helena Georgette

    ReplyDelete
  35. Welcome, Ellery!!!
    This is one of my favorite spots on the web ;-) So glad to have you here!!
    Pie is a wonderful thing...a truly wonderful thing. Two favorites here are pineapple upside down pie and cherry vanilla. Both equally decadent and delicious...and best of all easy to make!
    Looking forward to adding even more pies to our family recipe book!
    nanc

    ReplyDelete
  36. While it's not a creamy pie, I must share my favorite pie-my mom's fresh strawberry pie. It can only be made during the short strawberry season here in WNY. My mom used her mom's crust recipe and topped it with freshly whipped cream!

    ReplyDelete
  37. What a neat series. One of my favorites is Lemon Cheesecake Pie.

    1 block of cream cheese, softened,
    1 can sweetened condensed milk
    Mix together, add 1/3 cup of lemon juice. Pour into a graham cracker crust and chill.

    I just love it, could just eat the filling by itself.

    Erin
    eparker@arkwest.com

    ReplyDelete
  38. Oh pies. How I love them so! But, I sadly don't really have an "original" recipe for a pie. My sister makes this wonderful chocolate peanut butter pie....creamy peanut butter with chocolate mixed in with small chunks of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. It's very yummy.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Oooh, I have a lot of blueberries I just put in the freezer. This is perfect. Sounds marvelous.

    Hope Clark
    FundsforWriters.com

    ReplyDelete
  40. One of my favourites is Hawaiian Strawberry Pie. The crust is made with oil and pressed into the pan though you could use a regular baked pie crust. The filling is coconut cream which I've adapted to do in my microwave just because it's faster. Top with fresh strawberries that have been cut up and sprinkled with a bit of sugar. Then you decorate with sweetened whipped cream and some toasted coconut. I'm getting hungry thinking about it.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Helena GeoregetteJuly 9, 2011 at 9:30 PM

    Just had a piece of the Charmed Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie very delightful! I added lemon zest to be blueberry filling. A lovely, quick to fix pie. Thank you :)

    ReplyDelete
  42. I have a great cream pie on my blog that we make often. I recently gave it a complete makeover so it's an even more fun pie. http://rockandahardplate.blogspot.com/2011/06/coconut-rum-pie.html
    Sara Thompson

    ReplyDelete