Rub butter into flour until crumbly. [mv_img id="1063"]

Add egg yolk and sugar, blend well. Then add water and mix to form soft dough (don't worry if it gets mushy at first, it WILL come together as the water gets absorbed). Shape into a ball and press it flat. Wrap in plastic or cling wrap and chill for 30 minutes. [mv_img id="1064"]

Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 200 deg C (390 deg F). Line the oven rack with a sheet of baking paper to catch any juices that bubble over the sides of the pie dish during baking.

Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper to 3-mm or 1/8-inch thickness. Roll out till at least 2 cm or 1 inch beyond the edge. Fit into pie dish, slowly edging into the dish and up the sides. Roll over the edges of the dish to cut off excess pastry. (Note: Any leftover pastry can be stored in an air-tight bag and kept chilled or frozen for future use.) [mv_img id="1065"]

Blind bake the pie shell by laying a sheet of crumpled baking paper over the pie shell and filling with baking beans, uncooked beans or uncooked rice grains (not to worry, these can be re-used). Blind baking is essential for wet pie fillings to prevent the pastry shell from turning soggy. Bake at 200 deg C for 10 mins. Remove from oven and set aside. If you choose not to blind bake the pie shell, place the pie dish in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Rub the butter in the flour and sugar mixture until the mixture resembles crumbs.

In a mixing bowl, mix together corn starch, sugar, lemon zest, mixed spice, cinnamon and salt.

Add blueberries, toss to coat evenly all over. Add lemon juice and butter and mix well. Set aside. [mv_img id="1066"]

Fill the pie dish with blueberries. [mv_img id="1067"]

Bake at 200 deg C (390 deg F) for 20 mins. Reduce oven temperature to 175 deg C (350 deg F) and bake a further 20 mins or until blueberry juices just start to bubble just below the topmost layer of blueberries. Sprinkle crumble mixture all over, on top of the blueberries and return to oven to bake a further 15 to 20 mins or until crumbles turn golden brown. Important: Baking is done when you see the juices in the filling bubbling actively.

When done, remove from oven and let the pie cool down completely, about 2 hours, to allow the juices to set more firmly (as shown at the top of this page). Otherwise, the hot juices will run out of the pie if cut when pie is still hot.