Top Off Blueberry Pie With These Alex Guarnaschelli-Approved Preserves

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The hallmark of great homemade blueberry pie filling lies in the perfect balance of tart fruit and sweetness, along with a jammy cooked texture. But it can be a challenge, at times, to achieve the right floral berry flavor and gooey bite without your pie falling apart when you slice it — unless you employ the correct ingredients. According to Alex Guarnaschelli, Iron Chef, cookbook author, and renowned New York City restaurateur, it helps to add a little blueberry preserves to the mix — and she has a favorite. "I love to eat Bonne Maman preserves throughout the year according to the season," the celebrity chef explained to Food Network. "I put a small dollop of the wild blueberry in my summer blueberry pies." 

In her blueberry pie recipe, which she also shared with Food Network, Guarnaschelli calls for scooping a "good quality jam" directly into her filling, along with fresh blueberries and other ingredients like butter, sugar, flour, and lemon juice. She writes in the recipe that "the addition of jam adds pectin and body so you can avoid using cornstarch." While cornstarch is a common go-to pie filling thickener, it can contribute a starchy taste, and it's highly processed. Pectin, on the other hand, is a natural plant-based gelling agent added to jams and preserves to increase viscosity. When jam is added to blueberry pie filling, it contributes to the same purpose — making for a stable, thick filling with great flavor. 

When making blueberry pie filling, the quality of the ingredients matters. So, it's no surprise Bonne Maman is a top choice for chef Guarnaschelli. Bonne Maman's Wild Blueberry Preserves boasts natural ingredients and great taste. Jams and preserves generally contain fruit pieces (which naturally contain pectin, too), as opposed to fruit juices used to make jellies. And compared to other jams, which can be loaded with sugar or artificial flavorings, the French jam brand combines real wild blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, and pectin for an optimally sweet fruit spread. Though some from-scratch blueberry pie filling recipes call for pre-cooking your berries or adding starch to the recipe, the naturally occurring and added pectin in Bonne Maman helps pie fillings thicken as they cook. 

To add the blueberry preserves to your pie filling, simply mix them in with fresh blueberries (though frozen will suffice if the berries are not in season) and other filling ingredients before baking your pie in the oven until the crust is golden. For extra berry flavor, you can add a spoonful of blueberry preserves (or other varieties) atop your fresh-baked blueberry pie, alongside one of these popular vanilla ice cream brands and honey whipped cream. Or spoon the blueberry preserves directly onto a warm slice of pie, so it melts over the crisp crust. However you incorporate it, the result will be more berry goodness and a jammy finish.