Cooking Classes

7.9.13

Saskatoon Berry Pie - My Cherished Canadian Recipe


The Canadian Food Experience Project is the brainchild of Valerie at A Canadian Foodie. This is the 4th edition of a yearlong project. This month we have 80 participants. I am blown away by the participation.

My previous posts in this series can be found at these links:
My Earliest Memory of Canadian Food
Regional Canadian Food - SW Saskatchewan 
Local Food Heroes 

This is a re-post of pie I made last Christmas for our family gathering. I had to think long and hard what I would consider my most cherished recipe. As with all cultures around the world, except the most isolated, cuisine evolves. Most recipes have been tweeked and adjusted to fit our lifestyle today.
Then I remembered saskatoon berry pie. This is a recipe that will never change. It will always be the same because it is just perfect the way it is.
I have tried many recipes and this one is the best I have tried. 
I made the pies, frozen them, defrosted in the refrigerator for about 6 hours, then baked as fresh below. 



Serve with homemade vanilla bean ice cream.

Saskatoon Berry Pie 

  • 4 cups saskatoon berries
  • 3/4 cup sugar, granulated
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Pastry for double crust pie
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  1. In a saucepan, simmer saskatoon berries in water for 10 minutes. Add lemon juice. Stir in granulated sugar mixed with flour. 
  2. Pour into pastry lined pie plate. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust; seal and flute edges. 
  3. Bake in 425F oven for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350F oven and bake 35-45 minutes longer or until golden brown.
 

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
4 egg yolks
2 cups half and half cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
Whisk yolks and sugar until lemon coloured.  In a sauce pan scald the cream with the vanilla seeds and bean.  Temper the egg yolks with this hot milk.  Do this by adding a little at a time while whisking the egg yolks.  Eventually you will have added all the milk.  Cook this mixture in a double boiler until thickened.  Cool, strain, churn according to your machine's directions.

4 comments:

  1. Beautiful pie, Sarah. I would love to taste it as I have never tasted a Saskatoon berry!

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  2. Oh how I miss Saskatoon berries and your pie looks delicious!

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  3. Got the link in Sarah, so sorry about that!!!
    Saskatoon Berry pie is definitely a cherished Canadian Recipe in this house - and I love that your recipe is so different than mine. I am definitely going to try yours - not that mine needs any improvement, but that you attest to it, and tastings and learning are key to me - particularly with heritage Canadian food! My recipe is also on my site.
    I am so deeply grateful that you continue to work through the challenges of this project... on the surface, they do seem straightforward, but each on does required a concerted focus and a lot of introspection... for me, and most everyone else, it seems. This is a place I enjoy being. Delving through thinking about Canadian food, and the stories each of us are sharing, as well as the thinking that accompanies each selection.
    Yummy! Yummy!
    I feeze my berries and my pastry - then make my pie whenever... I think it is because I don't have enough freezer room, though I should! I used to make the pies and freeze them, which is much more convenient!
    Big hug,
    Valerie

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