Blueberry Birthday Pie

I know Blueberry Pie, or even pie in general, is not common for birthdays. But, my boyfriend doesn't like birthday cake. (He's crazy.) So, I made him a delicious blueberry pie that turned out great. Stick a few candles in it, and you can pretend it's a birthday cake!

Pie Crust:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of cold vegetable shortening and 1/2 cup cold vegan butter
1/3 to 1/2 cup ice cold water

What to do:

Combine flour, sugar, and salt. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. (If you already put your flour in the freezer, don't worry about it. It just needs to be cold.)
Cut cold shortening and cold butter into pieces.
With a food processor or electric mixer, add shortening/butter to flour mix.
Then slowly pour in the ice cold water until the mix is not dry. (It should not be like dough, but you should be able to form it into a ball.
Separate mix into two balls and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for another 30 minutes, up to 3 days.

~When you are ready to make pie crust, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.~

Once dough is chilled, roll out one dough ball onto a well floured surface. Roll out into a large circle about 1/4 inch thick.
Transfer the rolled out dough to an un-greased pie pan.
You can either use a fork to make a design in the edges, or pinch the edges to make a typical looking pie crust.
Using a fork, make holes on the bottom of the pie crust.
Bake for 10 minutes.

For the top crust you can do several things. You will need to roll out the dough on a well floured surface, just like the bottom part. You can make a lattice design by cutting strips. I personally like to use cookie cutters and form shapes. Once you have prepared your top crust, put it into the refrigerator until you are ready to bake the pie.

Ingredients for the Blueberry Mix:

3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch (add 1 tablespoon if using frozen blueberries.)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.

Lemon zest from 2 lemons
4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries.  (If using frozen, let blueberries thaw and then drain the extra liquid.)

What to do:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl mix sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
When it is combined, fold in blueberries.
Pour mixture into the pre-baked pie crust.
Add your top crust, however you want.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Then, reduce the heat to 350 degrees.
To prevent edges from burning, at this time, you should cover the edges with foil.
Bake for another 25-30 minutes.

Let the pie cool completely. I generally make it a day before, to really let it set. But, if you can't wait that long, go for it!