It’s berry season! Saskatoon Pie is a Canadian classic! The berry grows in the prairies both wild and cultivated.
This is a cultivated saskatoon or a domesticated shrub. We’re fortunate that my folks have fruit trees and shrubs which is great, until ours begin to produce enough.
Our First Nations dried and pounded the saskatoon berries and added it to dried buffalo meat and fat to create pemmican — once a staple of their diet. The settlers picked these berries too which provided extra nourishment.
Saskatoons are often plentiful. With all the extra berries, it was easy to make a pie. Often the women settlers made pies for after the meal to help feed everyone who had come to help harvest the grain fields. Watching farmers begin to combine the fields around us, makes me think how different farming is today, but a hard working farmer will always enjoy this classic dessert! Pies were simple enough to make, plus they had everything that was needed to make pies — flour, butter or lard, sugar, perhaps an egg, and then of course the berries.
And I have everything we need to make and enjoy this scrumptious dessert too!! I love saskatoons, and enjoy them both freshly picked or cooked!
For this pie, we will need to prepare a double pie crust. Try my No-Fail Pie Crust recipe.
Look at these lovely saskatoons! I love the deep purple berry. It’s hard to describe the flavor of saskatoons — many say they have a nutty flavor but I think they are more like a dense, chewy, woodsy blueberry. They’re absolutely delicious and one of my favorites so I knew I wanted to make a yummy pie with them!
Let’s get started!
First, we need to prepare the saskatoon pie filling. Toss cleaned (pick any stems out, leaves or shriveled berries) and washed saskatoons into a pot. Add sugar and flour. Stir well.
Add apple juice and water, and stir.
Cook until thickened, stirring often so it does not burn, and berries are tender, about 10 minutes.
Cook until desired tenderness of berry. If berry sauce gets too thick, add 2-3 tbsp water otherwise it will scorch — and that tastes horrible!!
It will be thick and berries will be tender but will still hold their shape. Tastes delicious!! Cool filling completely before pouring into pie shell. Putting a hot filling into the crust will cause the bottom crust to become gummy.
Cooked saskatoons are so good! I could eat this on oatmeal or yogurt!
Finally, I can pour the filling into the crust!! Took about 30 minutes to cool, stirring occasionally.
Dot the top with butter, about 1 teaspoon.
Brush bottom crust edge with egg wash.
Place top crust on, making sure there’s slits or holes for the steam to escape.
Trim excess dough. Crimp edge. You can get as fancy as you like. To be honest, I’m much more of an old fashioned, simple baker so I just do the edge as I was taught — either crimp with a fork or turn the edge in going all around, creating a roll. I decided to roll the edge crust.
Brush top crust with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 350F for 30 to 45 minutes or until pie crust is golden. I always place the pie on a baking sheet in case the pie runs over — then I don’t have a baked on mess in the oven because that’s really hard to clean! I may have experienced this once or twice!!
This pie cooked for 45 minutes. I’m so glad I placed it on a baking sheet — fruit pies always seem to run over!
Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Let cool completely before slicing. If you slice the pie too soon, you will have a goopy mess! This allows the filling to thicken and set once again.
Serve as is or with ice cream. Super delicious!
Saskatoon Pie
3 cups fresh saskatoons
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
3/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Cook until thickened, and berries are tender, about 10 minutes. Let filling cool completely. Pour into pie crust. Dot with butter. Place top crust on, making sure to put a few slits or holes in the top crust and to allow steam to escape. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350F until golden, about 40 minutes. Let cool completely before serving. Serve with ice cream.
enjoy from Our City Homestead to yours