The beginning of this pie recipe doesn’t start like most. There were no nostalgic thoughts of grandma cooking something on Sunday morning after church nor a dreamy memory of picking blueberries in North Georgia with family a year prior. No, it started on a mundane semi-annual cleaning supply run to the store.
With no plans for the day besides checking off my to-do list, I took the time to smell each scent of Mrs. Meyer’s dish cleaning soap before making my selection. As I picked up the lavender variety, one quick whiff had me shouting internally “THIS WOULD MAKE A DELICIOUS PIE.” But it was late Spring and I wasn’t quite sure what seasonal fruit (if any) would mix well with lavender for a pie until another eureka hit me: blueberries.
I began to jog my memory for this flavor combination and I was reminded of just one. A few summers back, I had briefly enjoyed a taste of a wildberry lavender ice cream and figured the fresh tartness of Georgia Blueberries would be the best substitute for whatever berries make up the “wildberry.” I started devising a plan to put this idea into fruition.
As any scientist (or science enthusiast) knows, during the process of the scientific method we must first ask a question to which we do not already know the answer “Will lavender work with pie?” Next, we must do our research. A hearty google search and some cornered pages in Ann Quatrano’s “Summerland” yielded positive results. My confidence was boosting that this was becoming more of a possibility than a problem and thus a hypothesis was reached: with fresh Georgia Blueberries, lemon zest and a splash of lavender extract you will be able to create a delicious pie. Finally, I was ready to begin testing.
In my research, I did yield an important note about pie baking: always use a dark coated pan, glass pie pans leave you with soggy crust since they don’t conduct heat the same way that a metal pan would. With the supplies purchased, the research completed and my personal recipe ledger open and ready for note-taking, I was ready to test. The scientific method says for experimentation I need a control group. I decided to make four mini pies (in 5” metal pie pans) to start: the first would be the original blueberry lavender pie (the control), one would be the control with cinnamon, the next one would be the control with peaches, and finally the control with peaches and cinnamon.
The procedure was working. The lattices were laid, and the temperature was set to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. We were ready to bake. After 15 agonizing minutes and one tin foil tent later, the test subjects came out beautifully golden and their fillings bubbling with the softest scent of lavender wafting through the air. When an hour of cooling had passed, the ultimate test was conducted for which I had to enlist in a helper, who begrudgingly took on the arduous challenge of helping me eat and taste the pies.
And it came to be that my hypothesis proved correct: with fresh blueberries, lemon zest and a splash of lavender essential oil you can create a delicious pie. However, testing yielded an even more fruitful (pun intended) result by the addition of peaches and cinnamon. The Blueberry Lavender Peach Pie was born and you can find the full recipe over on Southern Kitchen where I’m sharing it today.
Here’s what you’ll need to make this pie <<Click the Left and right arrows to explore>>
