Juhani’s parents are like professional berry pickers. Every year, they pick dozens of kilos of berries and store them in the freezer.
We were given a variety of berries to share, so I immediately baked a pie. Frozen berries tend to release their juice and color the dough easily. By mixing the berries with white sugar beforehand, the juice easily seeped out and the entire tart turned pink.
Of course, color is not the only goal. Lingonberries are a very sour berry. When the juice is mixed into the filling, it helps the flavors blend better with the berries.

I’m not very good at baking. It’s hard for me to notice when I accidentally forget to add an ingredient. This time, I forgot to put eggs in both the dough and the filling. I’m surprised at myself. However, it turned out to be surprisingly delicious. The filling, in particular, was so good that Juhani, a Finnish who has eaten berry tarts for years, was impressed. Failure is the mother of success.
I have been experimenting with different whole wheat flours for the dough, including graham flour and barley flour.
Finnish Lingonberry Pie, PUOLUKKAPIIRAKKA


- butter 100 g
- brown sugar 60 g
- egg (if you like, *1) 1
- wheat flour (*2) 75 g
- whole wheat flour 50 g
- baking powder 1 tsp
- lingonberry 150 g
- white sugar 50 g
- rahka (or cream cheese, *3) 250 g
- fresh cream 50 g
- egg (if you like, *4) 1
- lingonberry 50 g
- Thaw the lingonberries and mix the ones for the filling with the white sugar.
- Bring butter to room temperature, or melt in the microwave.
- Mix all the flour for the dough.
- Line a cake pan with a cookie sheet.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Add the sugar to the butter and mix well.
- Add the eggs and mix well.
- Add the flour mixture in three parts, mixing well after each addition.
- Put the dough into the cake pan. The dough is sticky, so you can use your fingers dipped in water to make the shape(*5).
- Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. At this point, the dough should be raw.
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. The mixture will turn pink, and lightly crushing the lingonberries will make the color even darker.
- Pour the filling over the baked dough.
- Sprinkle the lingonberries on top of the filling.
- Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
- Cool thoroughly and refrigerate. The next day or later is best when the dough and filling are well blended.




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