Swedish blueberry pie

A Swedish blueberry pie is actually a crustless one, it resembles more a blueberry crisp and crumble hybrid, since the dough has both rolled oats and wheat flour.

This is called in Swedish blåbärs smulpaj, a blueberry crumble pie. The pie topping is crunchy, caramelly, and very sweet. Perfect to serve with vanilla ice cream.

Blueberry pies are especially popular in July and August when the bilberry season is at its best. This pie can be enjoyed the whole year round since it comes out great with frozen berries also.

This is a very easy recipe to make and you won't need any special equipment. I even make this simple blueberry pie in my caravan kitchen.

You might even like to try out this Finnish blueberry pie recipe also.

Ingredients

• Blueberries. As you see in the picture I used blueberries, these can be found throughout the world, unlike bilberries.
• Rolled oats. You can use small rolled oats for this one. If you use big rolled oats you get a slightly different consistency, but equally good tasting.
• Wheat flour. Regular all-purpose one is good.
• Sugar. You can also use brown sugar, or replace some of the sugar with syrup.
• Butter. Instead of butter margarine can be used, but butter tastes much better and gives a more caramelized and nutty flavor.
• Starch. You can use potato starch or corn starch. I imagine even tapioca starch works fine.
• Baking powder
• Salt

I used frozen blueberries for this pie, so I added 2 tablespoons of starch, if you use fresh ones one tablespoon will be enough.

Bilberries vs blueberries

This pie is always made with bilberries in Scandinavia which are forest blueberries, they are more tiny and tangy in taste. If you live in the US- maybe you can not find bilberries, so regular blueberries are ok to use. The finished pie is sweeter when made with blueberries and has a bit more tangy taste to balance the sweetness if done with bilberries.

Bilberries can be picked in the Swedish forests, they mature in July-August. What is best about bilberries is that they are free to pick in the forests. You can also find frozen bilberries sold throughout the whole of Scandinavia.

Instructions

1. Mix the blueberries with ¼ cup sugar and the cornstarch.
2. Spread it as an even layer on the cake pan.

3. Mix the dry ingredients together
4. Melt the butter and pour it onto the dry ingredients (not too hot). Mix into an even batter.

5. Spread the batter evenly on the blueberries and bake for 40 minutes at 350 F. (175 C)
6. Let the pie cool a bit before serving, about 10-15 minutes.

Variations and diets

• Vegan. This pie is easy to make vegan, you just need to swap the butter for margarine. The same goes with making this milk-free. Serve with vegan vanilla ice cream.
• Gluten-free. Instead of using wheat flour you can leave the flour out totally or use a gluten-free mix. Also, make sure the oats are labeled as gluten-free.
• Mixed berry pie. This makes a delicious pie using mixed berries; fresh or frozen. For example, the raspberry-blueberry-strawberry mix is absolutely delicious. Even tangier berries can be added like currants.

Can you make this pie with fruits?

This makes a lovely apple crumble pie also. Pears are also super delicious to use. I have also tested canned pears, and they work well.

What to serve with

• Vanilla ice cream. Serve the pie a bit warm and this forms such a delicious combination with the cold ice cream.
• Whipped cream. Not much cugar is needed to flavor the cream since the pie is very sweet.
• Vanilla sauce. This is also something traditional to serve.

Storing

The pie keeps up to 4 days in the fridge. It tastes best if you warm it a bit before serving, for example in a microwave.

No the best dish to freeze since the oats get soggy and lose the lovely crisp when thawed.

Other Swedish desserts

• Swedish brownies
• Swedish chocolate balls with oats and coconut
• Swedish pancakes
• Semla-cream buns