Blueberry Pie with Braid

Ingredients:

Dough for closed fruit pie

• 2.5 cups premium flour
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 cup chilled butter, cut into pieces (not frozen)
• 1/4 cup cool water
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar or lemon juice

Blueberry filling

• 4 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 medium apple, peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tbsp. lime or lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lime or lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2.5 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 egg, beaten with 2 tbsp water, for greasing
• Granulated sugar or turbinado sugar for sprinkling

Preparation:

1. Mix flour, sugar, and salt. Add vegetable oil and mix with a pastry cutter or a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth and moist crumbs form.
2. Add the butter and cut it into the flour until it forms crumbs, leaving small pieces of butter visible. Separately mix the water and vinegar (or lemon juice, if using) and pour it into the flour mixture, kneading it into a dough. Form the dough into 2 discs, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. The dough can be kneaded in advance and stored in the refrigerator for 2 days or in the freezer for 3 months. Defrost it in the refrigerator before rolling it out..
3. Blueberry filling.
   
   Combine the blueberries, apple, sugar, citrus juice and zest, and cinnamon in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Mix the cornstarch with a few tablespoons of cold water and stir into the blueberry filling. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture back to a simmer and cook until the filling thickens and becomes glossy. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. If making the filling ahead of time, store it in the refrigerator, but warm it to room temperature before baking.
4. Preheat oven to 200°C. Remove the dough from the refrigerator 15-30 minutes before rolling out.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the first disk of dough into a circle just under 0.5 cm thick. Flour a 9-inch pie pan and line it with the dough, leaving the edges untrimmed. Spoon the blueberry filling onto the dough.
6. Roll out the second disk of dough slightly thinner than the first, about 0.3 cm thick, but more square. Using a knife or a pastry cutter with a wheel, cut long strips about 0.5 cm wide (you should have 12-18 strips). Arrange half of the strips on top of the blueberry filling, leaving 0.5 cm between them. These will be the strips you'll be working with; all you need to do is gently fold them back.
   
   First, lift up every other strip and fold them back halfway. Lay a new strip across and cover it with the strips you folded over. Then fold back the working strips again, this time every other strip, and lay down a second perpendicular strip. Repeat this braided folding technique to create a lattice pattern. Trim off any excess dough and pinch the edges, creating a ribbed shape. Brush the braid with egg and sprinkle with sugar.
7. Bake the pie for 10 minutes at 200°C, then reduce the oven temperature to 190°C and bake for about 40 minutes more, until the crust is golden brown. Cool the pie to room temperature and refrigerate until serving. Serve warm.