Delicious Finnish Blueberry Pie (Mustikkapiirakka)
Delicious blueberry pie is a quite popular Finnish dessert and a common way to use the seasonal bounty of blueberries. Though mustikkapiirakka (Blueberry pie) is a true summer cottage pie during the blueberry season, it is a simple dessert to make off season as well using frozen blueberries.
Blueberries are a blue treasure and a delight in the late summertime in Northern Europe. Blueberries are a great source of many essential nutrients and contain a lot of vitamin C! In Finland, we have the every man’s right to forage blueberries in the forest to use them, for example, in a yummy blueberry pie, Finnish blueberry milk, or even make some whipped porridge with blueberries (traditionally with lingonberries).
Insider: A peak into Nordic living
This blueberry pie has a nice crumbly crust and a cookie-dough like crumble on the top and ooey-gooey blueberries like blueberry jam in the middle. This is not the same as mustikkakukko (blueberry rooster) or rättänä (no translation, don’t you just love the Finnish names!!).
The key differences are that those are made with a rye crust underneath and on the top hiding the blueberries like a treasure, and the traditional mustikkapiirakka (blueberry pie) is made with wheat flours, and the blueberries remain revealed on top of the pie. Everyone in the entire country of Finland has their own family recipe and the idea and personal preference of the perfect blueberry pie.
More Finnish recipes
Try out some other Finnish and Nordic classics!
- Simple soft apple pie is the one for beginners!
- Runeberg torte, the tall distinctive almond cake with raspberry jam.
- Refreshing homemade rhubarb juice for any occasion.
- The ultimate Finnish comfort food, the sweet rice porridge (riisipuuro)
- Yummy Whipped lingonberry semolina porridge (vispipuuro) for breakfast or snack time.
Short on time?
Pin it for later!
Ingredients you need for Finnish blueberry pie
You can find the exact measurements on the recipe card.
Pie crust ingredients
- Caster sugar
- Margarine: Can be substituted with butter.
- Egg
- Wheat flour: can be substituted with all-purpose flour.
- Baking powder
- Milk: I have used cow milk, but you can use any plant-based milk or even water if you prefer.
Ingredients for the crumble
- Wheat flour: can be substituted with all-purpose flour.
- Margarine: Can be substituted with butter.
- Caster sugar
- Vanilla sugar: Can be substituted with real vanilla bean or vanilla extract.
Blueberry filling ingredients
- Blueberries: Foraged wild blueberries or shop bought ones.
- Potato starch: Can be substituted with corn starch or even icing sugar (it’s just a bit sweeter!) If you use fresh blueberries instead of frozen ones, you can skip it completely.
You can find the exact measurements on the recipe card.
Tools you may need
- Large bowl, for mixing the pie crust, and for mixing the crumble on the top
- Medium bowl, for mixing the blueberry filling
- Hand mixer
- Spoons for mixing
- Measuring cups and scale
- Pie plate/pan or a tart pan (⌀ 24cm), the traditional Finnish blueberry pie is often made and served in a round glass pie pan.
How to make Finnish Blueberry pie
Step one: Make the dough
Set the oven at 200°C (392°F).
Whisk with hand mixer together the sugar and the margarine in a large mixing bowl until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients, and the milk gradually and mix until combined.
Step two: Build the pie layers
Butter the pie pan (24 cm diameter). Press the pie dough into the bottom of the pan with the help of a wet spoon to form the pie crust.
Using the same bow, mix all crumble ingredients: wheat flour, caster sugar, margarine (or butter) and vanilla sugar. Leave it crumbly. Set the bowl aside and take a separate bowl to mix the blueberry filling.
To prevent your pie from becoming soggy, combine blueberries with potato starch. If you use fresh blueberries, you can skip this step.
Sprinkle blueberries evenly over the pie crust in the pie pan. Sprinkle the crumble on top, and press it evenly. If you leave the pie heaped, the tips burn when the rest is uncooked.
Step three: Bake the Finnish blueberry pie
Put the blueberry pie in the lower half of the oven for 200°C and bake for 25-30min. When using fresh berries, shorten the time a bit.
If you want to leave the top crumble soft, cookie-dough like, bake until the edges turn golden brow. When you prefer more crumbly texture, bake on the higher oven shelf until the crumble turns golden brown. If it feels that the top starts to brown too fast, cover with aluminum foil and continue baking.
Serving
Serve the Finnish blueberry pie traditionally with vanilla ice cream or vanilla custard.
Storage
Finnish blueberry pie stores in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer up to 6 months.
How to tweak this recipe
- Add some grated lemon zest.
- Serve with some whipped cream and fresh blueberries.
- Mix together Greek yoghurt, with vanilla sugar and sweeten with icing sugar to the taste, to serve with the blueberry pie.
Little Helper
Along with mixing and measuring, the most intriguing moments for a little chef are the mixing and sprinkling the blueberries and tapping the dough crumble on the top of the blueberry pie.
When serving the hot pie, take a moment to let your tiny helper scoop their own ice cream dollop on the top of their portion. if you have some fresh blueberries still, let them use them for garnish. Every tiny chef’s dream portion.
how is your family recipe?
How is your family’s perfect blueberry pie recipe? Soft dough or crumbly crust? Served with ice cream, custard or plain? Tell me in the comments! And as always, if you have made this or my other recipes, tag me on Instagram with @blue.tea.tile or let me know in the comments, I would love to know how they turned out!
You can find the recipe card below!
Short on time?
Pin it for later!
