White Chocolate Blueberry Cream Pie

Smooth and creamy white chocolate cream filling in a golden, flakey crust and topped with the tastiest homemade blueberry sauce!

Is anyone else totally over summer, or is it just me?

Although Labor Day typically marks the unofficial end of summer, I don’t think Mother Nature has quite gotten the memo. At least, not here in Portland, Oregon. It’s flipping September, and we’re STILL hitting the upper 90’s. In fact, today we’re predicted to hit 100 degrees! Mother Nature must be going through menopause or something because we’ve definitely experienced our fare share of heat flashes from her this year.

So with September upon us as well as the end of summer (hopefully), I figured I’d post one last summer-licious recipe to celebrate.

This White Chocolate Blueberry Cream Pie is way more than your average cream pie. Or any pie, for that matter.

The creamy filling is infused with the richness of white chocolate and the subtle tartness of cream cheese. It’s as easy as making a no-bake cheesecake, but it’s so much more flavorful.

Luxuriously velvety and smooth, the white chocolate cream filling pairs so well with the homemade blueberry sauce. While a canned blueberry filling would work just fine, I’ve found that freshly made sauce has a more lusciously tart flavor. The canned variety also tends to have more glaze than actual berries. If you’re worried about the time or difficulty involved, this blueberry sauce is actually rather easy to throw together. You can either use fresh or frozen berries. I used blueberries that I had flash-frozen a few months back. 

The pie crust is really the only thing that takes the most time. In fact, it’s the main reason why traditional pie crusts are at the very bottom of things I like to make. However, I knew that this pie deserved more than your average easy peasy graham cracker crust. And I have to say, I’m pretty proud of how perfectly flaky this crust turned out.

Aside from using a good strong pie crust recipe (like the one in this recipe 😉 ), I have a few tips when it comes to blind-baking pie crusts:

Chill the dough TWICE – After the dough has been mixed, I flatten it into a disk and place in the refrigerator for about an hour. Then I take it out, roll it, form it into the pie plate, then place it in the freezer for about 15 minutes. This prevents the crust from shrinking as it bakes in the oven.

Use foil instead of parchment paper – Unlike parchment paper which is more rigid and stiff, foil is much more malleable, making it easier to press and conform into the curves and crevices of the pie dough. As an added bonus, the foil edges can be folded over the outer crust to ensure that they don’t over-brown.

Granulated sugar is the best pie weight – Since sugar is so much finer than pie weights/beans/rice, it has the ability to sit into every nook and cranny. It’s also heavy enough to prevent puffing and air pockets, eliminating the need to dock/stab your beautiful crust millions of times. Not only is sugar cheaper, but you always have it on hand. PLUS, once the sugar has cooled to room temperature, simply bag it up in a zip-lock and use it in another recipe later on! 

Bake low and slow – Most blind-baking processes require baking for 15-20 minutes at a high temperature first, removing the pie weights, stabbing the crust, then reducing the temperature and baking for another 15-20 minutes. Not only is this more tedious, but the high heat causes the dough to puff and shrink. I’ve found that baking the crust for an hour at 350ºF with the pie weights/sugar in the entire time is not only ten times easier (no in-then-out-then-in BS), but it also resulted in a nicely browned and crisp crust that was flat along the bottom and sides.

Perfecto! 

So while this unusual (more like unGodly) heat might have us pondering global warming, at least there’s one constant we all have to look forward to this Labor Day…the kiddos (AKA, annoying little saps) are back in school.

SUCKAS!!!

White Chocolate Blueberry Cream Pie

Smooth and creamy white chocolate cream filling in a golden, flakey crust and topped with the tastiest homemade blueberry sauce!

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Prep Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Chilling Time 4 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Total Time 6 hours hrs

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 8 Pieces

Ingredients

  

Pie Dough:

• 3 Tablespoons water
• 1 Tablespoon sour cream
• 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 Tablespoons shortening cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter cold

Blueberry Sauce:

• 3 cups blueberries fresh or frozen
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

White Chocolate Filling:

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 ounces white chocolate
• ½ cup + 2 Tablespoons heavy cream divided
• Freshest whipped cream for decorating

Instructions

 

Make the Crust:

• In a small bowl, combine the water and sour cream; set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir the flour, sugar and salt together. Scatter the shortening over the flour, then use a cheese grater to grate the butter on top. Using a fork or a pastry blender, cut the mixture together until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the sour cream mixture and use a stiff rubber spatula to stir and press the dough together until it forms one big mound. If dough is still too dry and doesn't hold together, add another tablespoon of water.
• Turn the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and flatten into a 5-inch disk. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least one hour.
• Once chilled, roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle and fit into a greased 9-inch pie plate. Trim, fold, and crimp the edge of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 15 minutes until chilled and firm.
• Preheat the oven to 400ºF. To blind-bake, I like to press a sheet of aluminum foil into the pie pan since it gets into the crevices better than parchment paper. I then pour two cups of granulated sugar on top of the foil, and use a spoon to press the sugar down into the foil. Place pie plate onto a baking sheet and bake until the edges of the crust are starting to brown, about 15-16 minutes. Remove pie from the oven and carefully lift the aluminum foil (with the sugar) out of the pie. Return the pie crust to the oven and bake until the bottom crust is golden brown, about 14-15 minutes longer. Remove and cool completely.

Make the Blueberry Sauce:

• in a medium saucepan, heat the blueberries over medium heat until they soften and their juices start to release, about 4-5 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon. Add mixture to the blueberries and continue cooking until it begins to thicken, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Pour into a shallow bowl and place in the refrigerator to cool completely.

Make the White Chocolate Filling:

• In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on high until smooth and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, combine the white chocolate and 2 Tablespoons of heavy cream. Heat in the microwave, stopping and stirring every 30 seconds, until mixture is smooth. Pour white chocolate into cream cheese mixture and beat until combined.
• Transfer mixture to another bowl, replace paddle attachment with whisk attachment, and pour the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream into the bowl of the mixer. Whip on high until soft peaks form. Return cream cheese mixture to the mixing bowl and beat on high until stiff peaks form, scraping down the bowl when necessary.
• Pour white chocolate filling into pie shell and smooth out evenly with a spatula. Pour the cooled blueberry sauce evenly on top. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.