after finding this little number on pinterest a few years ago, it's become my favorite patriotic pie to recreate for holidays. since there was no exact recipe on the image i found, i adapted to "create" my own.

i've found my favorite variation is part homemade, and part pre-made: the canned cherry pie filling provides a gorgeous bright red color, bakes up nicely, and is a huge timesaver, while the homemade blueberry portion gives the pie a little texture and makes it easier to create the 1/4:3/4 separation. the difference in texture allows you can hold the whole berries in place with spatulas while the more liquid canned filling gently spreads into the spaces surrounding them.

hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

| ingredients |

pate brisee (2 crusts, divided)
1 1 /2 cups blueberries
1 tablespoon sugar
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/2 tablespoon flour
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
30 oz can cherry pie filling
egg
heavy cream

| method |

lightly grease a pie pan, roll the bottom pie crust out and press into your greased pan. set in the fridge while you prepare the blueberries.

in a medium sized bowl, combine blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, flour and cinnamon. toss the blueberries until well coated and set aside. remove the prepared pie plate from the fridge, open your can of cherry pie filling so it's ready to go, and prop two spatulas up inside the pie plate, cordoning off the upper left 1/4 of the pie. pour the coated blueberries into this space, quickly filling the rest of the pie pan with the cherry pie filling. gently remove the spatulas and stick the pie back in the fridge. (the canned cherry pie filling will flow in around the whole berries, holding them in place when you remove the spatulas.)

preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

roll out your top pie crust, and cut your stripes as you would for a lattice pie, and your stars using a small star cookie cutter. place on top of the pie as shown, and tuck the edges of the pie crust in, trim them, or top with a braid as shown below.

create an egg wash by whisking one egg with a fork, and thinning with a little milk or heavy cream. brush this egg wash on top of the pie with a pastry brush and place in the oven. place pie plate on top of a cookie sheet to catch any spills, transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the pie crust is golden brown (you can cover the edges with foil if the pie seems to be browning too quickly.)

i prefer this pie cold, and refrigerate overnight before serving. alternatively, you can rest one hour before serving at room temperature.