It is 3.14 Pi Day, so that means, it is a day of pie making!! And who doesn’t like pie!?! We have decided to make raisin pie, an old family favorite. Raisin pie is slightly sweet yet tart with the plumped raisins in a golden caramel sauce. It goes amazingly well with vanilla ice cream (especially homemade) and is a pie we enjoy in the winter.
The pioneers often made pies from dried fruit because dried fruit lasted longer and the pie once cooked, would last without refrigeration! Fresh fruit was not always easy to come by back then, not to mention costly! Walking through the grocery store today, reminds me how difficult the pioneers and earlier cultures must have had with needing to purchase ingredients, since our grocery costs today can sometimes be rather ridiculous! Fresh fruit to buy in the winter often lacks in flavor and is quite costly, so using dried fruit like raisins to make a pie is a great alternative!
Let’s get started!
First, we need to cook our filling since it needs to cool before pouring into the pie crust. Adding hot filling to a cold pie crust can make the bottom crust gluey and gross and have that under baked taste to it.
In a saucepan, toss in the raisins, brown sugar, flour, vanilla, butter and water.
Bring to a boil and then simmer until the raisins plump and filling begins to thicken, about 10 to 15 minutes.
This is the thickened pie filling. Place on a wire rack and stir occasionally until cooled.
Prepare pie crust. Place dough in pie plate and place in fridge until filling is cool. Wrap remaining dough in plastic and refrigerate – this will be the top crust.
Check out how we make our Never Fail Pie Crust here: https://www.ourcityhomestead.com/never-fail-pie-crust/
Pour filling into pie crust. Roll remaining dough and place over filling. Cut off any excess dough and either press the top crust and bottom crust with a fork to seal, crimp or roll crust over as I have done (watch our video below for how we crimped the crust). Brush with egg wash if you like (egg whisked lightly with a splash of water). Sprinkle with a bit of granulated sugar. Cut vent holes in the top which allows steam to escape.
Bake at 350F for 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely before cutting into, otherwise the filling may not be set.
This old fashioned raisin pie is delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! I have heard many a story of days gone by with great gramma’s preparing raisin pie as a sweet treat for the family after a hard day’s work in the field. It would take her several hours to prepare the filling and crust and then bake it in the wood stove, which when the men would come in from the field late that evening and the girls had finished their chores, animals had been tended to and the garden had been weeded and some herbs harvested, a delicious pie would be enjoyed with fresh thick, sweetened cream. The kitchen was now lit by candle light and oil lamp as they enjoyed their pie after a quick supper of bread and vegetables with homemade dumplings and pork. I think of those stories often as I enjoy my raisin pie in the kitchen lit by powered lights, that was easily baked with modern conveniences. Nevertheless, this is am amazingly delicious pie that takes you back!
Raisin Pie
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 cups raisins
2 cups boiling water
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp butter
Combine sugar and flour together. Add raisins, vanilla and boiling water.
Watch our LIVE video here: https://www.facebook.com/ourcityhomestead/videos/445553186683310
