I’m just gonna be really honest here. 

This pie is sexy. 

It is decadent. It is sumptuous. It is gorgeous. It may leave you without coherent words after tasting it. 

Even when it’s not at its best, it is amazing. 

It’s a sexy pie. 

If you’re looking for something to celebrate Pi Day, something to bring a taste of spring to what feels like a never-ending winter, something that will impress guests with both how it looks and how it tastes, this is it. Make this pie. 

If you’re nervous about blind baking a crust, don’t worry one bit. I made the mistake of buying new nonstick pie pans to test this recipe. Half my crusts slipped and slumped down into the pan; the other half spilled over the edges of the pan onto the oven floor. Guess what? No one who tasted it noticed the wonky crusts. This pie filling is so beautifully heaping and overflowing and delicious that it covers all manner of crust issues. 

It is generous to the baker, this sexy pie. 

Don’t want to make a crust from scratch? Buy a premade one. The thought of making homemade lemon curd send you into a paroxysm of anxiety? Use jarred lemon curd, and call it a day. 

The only mistake that can really happen here is a failure to plan and chill appropriately. This pie requires intentionality. Sometimes you need to plan for sexiness to happen. 

Make your Blueberry Compote in advance and chill it. A day ahead is fine. Blind bake your crust, and let it cool completely. I do this the night before, or morning of, the day I serve the pie. Whip the filling, pile it into your cooled crust along with the chilled Blueberry Compote, and put the whole thing into the fridge for at least 3 hours (maybe even more like 5-6 hours) before serving. 

Be aware that even with all this chilling, your pie slices will be rather messy. Let’s call them gorgeously rustic. There will be dripping blueberries. Piles of creamy, dreamy lemon mousse. Shards of buttery, flaky pie crust. 

Maybe, just maybe, if you serve it to your grandma, you should call it Lemon Mousse Pie with Blueberry Compote. 

Or maybe not. Grandma might like a sexy pie too. 

I developed this pie recipe a few years ago when a friend gave me a jar of lovely homemade lemon curd. I wanted to make a distinctively lemony pie with it but one with less room for error than a lemon meringue pie. I did what I call Franken-mashing a recipe: I pick and choose my favorite parts of a few recipes and make them into one new recipe. (Literally, I cut and pasted the parts of the recipes I liked into a piece of notebook paper in my recipe binder). I've made it both with homemade lemon curd and jarred lemon curd and can't tell the difference between the two. Jarred lemon curd can be found in the European or International section of your grocery store. 

Lemon Mousse Pie with Blueberry Compote

Adapted from: Lemon Meringue Blueberry Pie & Spectacular Lemon Mousse Pie

Ingredients:
Blueberry Compote:
3 cups fresh blueberries
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest (from about 1/2 lemon)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons all purpose flour

1 prepared, chilled pie crust (this is my favorite recipe)

Lemon Mousse:
1 - 1/3 cups lemon curd (jarred or homemade)
8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions:
Make the blueberry compote: Place half the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves, mixture begins to bubble, and a few blueberries begin to pop, about 5 - 8 minutes. Add flour and whisk; cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl, and stir in remaining blueberries. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days in advance. 

Blind bake the pie crust: On a well-floured surface, roll out pie crust to about a 12” diameter. Gently remove from rolling surface and drape into a pie pan (whatever size you have will work; just make sure it is safe to transfer from freezer to oven). Using your fingers, gently press the crust into the corners and up the sides of the pan. Trim edges so that about 1” of dough hangs over the edge of the pan; you may not have any excess to trim. Fold hanging dough under edge of dough in pan. Using your fingers or a spoon, crimp the edges of the dough around the circumference of the pan. Place prepared pan into the freezer for 30 minutes. While you wait, adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Once the shaped pie crust is chilled and oven is pre-heated, place a large piece of foil over the crust. Fill the foil with something to help weigh it down; pie weights, dried beans, uncooked rice, or granulated sugar all will work. Place in oven and bake until the sides of the crust appear set, although not fully cooked, about 20 - 25 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights from crust. Continue to bake until the crust is a light golden brown and appears cooked through, about 10 - 20 minutes longer (timing depends on which type of pan you use; check it frequently to make sure crust is not becoming overly brown). If the pie crust bubbles while baking, use a fork to pierce it. Allow pie crust to cool completely before assembling the pie, at least 2 hours. 

Assemble the pie & make the lemon mousse: Spread 2 tablespoons of lemon curd over the cooled pie crust. Use a slotted spoon to measure out 1 cup of the blueberry compote, and spread the compote over the crust as well. Set aside.

Place white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30 second increments until melted, stirring after every interval, about 90 seconds. Meanwhile, place cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium speed until somewhat lighter and fluffier, about 3 minutes. Add melted chocolate and beat at medium speed until well-combined, about 2 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl at least once. Add remaining lemon curd and again beat at medium speed until well-combined, about 2 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl at least once. Set aside.

Place the cream in a separate, large, clean bowl of an electric mixer. Using the whisk attachment, start beating at medium speed then increase speed to high (I cover my mixer with a towel here to avoid splattering). Beat until cream forms medium peaks, about 5 minutes (medium peaks = when beaters are lifted, a peak remains standing with just the tip curling over). Gently fold the cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream until it's a uniform color with no yellow streaks, taking care not to deflate the cream.

Spoon the cream mixture into the pie crust. I like to mound it up high, swirl it a bit with the back of a spoon, and make a divot at the top to help hold the compote. Pour the remaining compote over the top of the pie. You may want to place the pie onto a plate or baking sheet to catch any drips; if you'd like it less messy, you can use a slotted spoon to distribute the berries on the pie, discarding most of the liquid.

Refrigerate the pie until ready to serve, at least 3 hours. Slice and serve. Yield: 8 enormous, beautiful slices of pie or 10 more reasonably-sized ones.