Fruit Pies and Crumbles

To use soft frozen fruit such as berries and stone fruits (peaches, cherries) in pies, thaw the fruit first in a colander. Allow excess water to drain. Then measure the fruit as needed for the recipe and proceed.

Harder fruits such as rhubarb and pineapple can be used straight from the freezer.

Placing 2 or 3 pieces of macaroni vertically into the top crust of an unbaked fruit pie like funnels, protruding about an inch above the crust, will keep juicy fruit pies from running over from the edges of the pan as it bakes.

Cherry Pie

Tart or sour cherries are best for pie-making.

• 2-1/2 cups washed and pitted sour cherries
• 1/3 cup cherry juice
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 3 Tbs. minute tapioca
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/8 tsp almond extract
• pastry for double-crust pie

1. In a bowl, combine cherries, juice, brown sugar, white sugar, almond extract and tapioca. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes.
2. Pour into unbaked pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with butter.
3. Place lattice pastry strips or top crust over pie. Seal edges and prick top crust with a fork.
4. Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes.
5. Reduce heat to 375 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes more.
6. Remove pie from oven and cool on a rack.

Farmers' Market Fruit Crumble Pie

 It requires a total 4 cups (1L) fresh peeled, cored, sliced fruit. You can substitute and use what you have. Cut a 10" round of aluminum foil to shield pie while baking. This recipe, "Farmers' Market Crumble Pie" was clipped from autumn 2020 Food & Drink Magazine compliments of LCBO. It's heavy on the crumble topping and after making it I noted that I would try making only half the crumble topping next time. I didn't have pears or plums so substituted apples. I used chopped walnuts instead of pistachios and I think pecans would work well too. I didn't make the whipped topping and it was good without it.

• 3 ripe medium pears
• 1 Tbsp (15 mL) lemon juice
• 1/2 lb (225 g) plums
• 1/3 cup cranberries
• 1 tsp vanilla

Crumble:

• 1/2 cup (125 mL) large-flake oatmeal
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) pistachio nuts OR shredded coconut
• finely grated peel of 1/2 medium orange (optional)
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom OR ginger
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) cold butter, cut in pieces
• pastry to line 1 9-inch pie plate 
• 2 Tbsp (30 mL) cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp (15 mL) white granulated sugar

Topping:

• 1/2 cup 35% M.F. whipping cream
• 1/4 cup full-fat plain or vanilla yogurt
• 2 Tbsp granulated white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Peel and core pears, slice into 1/2 inch wedges.
3. Place pears in large bowl with lemon juice.
4. Pit plums and cut into 1/2 inch wedges. Stir into pears.
5. Add cranberries and vanilla.
6. In another large bowl, stir oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, nuts or coconut, peel, cinnamon, salt, cardamom or ginger. 
7. With clean fingers, rub in butter until small and larger crumbs form.
8. Line pie plate with pastry.
9. In small bowl, stir cornstarch and sugar.
10. Add to fruit, toss well.
11. Turn fruit into pie shell.
12. By hand, sprinkle clumps of oatmeal mixture over fruit.
13. Bake on bottom rack of preheated 425 degree F oven 20 minutes.
14. Reduce heat to 350 degree F.
15. Place aluminum foil round over pie so crumble doesn't overbrown.
16. Bake 35 to 40 more minutes. Fruit should be soft and crumble golden brown.
17. Cool at least 1 hour before serving.
18. To make topping, beat whipping cream with yogurt until soft peaks form. Then beat in sugar and vanilla, serve with pie.
19. Refrigerate leftovers.

Single Crust Peach Pie

Serves 8. Make ahead.

• 1 baked and cooled 10 inch (25 cm) pie shell
• 1.5 L fresh peach slices (6 cups or about 6 large)
• 250 ml (1 cup )white granulated sugar
• 50 mL (1/4 )cup cornstarch
• 1 mL (1/4 tsp) cinnamon
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) orange juice
• whipped cream or vanilla ice cream 

1.  Mash peach slices to make 250 mL (1 cup) and reserve remaining slices.
2. In a saucepan combine: sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon. Stir in orange juice and mashed peaches.
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils, then cook an additional minute.
4. Spread half of glaze over bottom and sides of baked pie shell. Arrange reserved peach slices on top.
5. Pour remaining half of glaze over fruit.
6. Cover and chill at least 3 hours. Serve cold with whipped cream or ice cream.

Single Crust Strawberry Pie

• 6 cups fresh strawberries, divided
• 1 cup water
• 2/3 to 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 9" pastry shell
• whipped cream

1. Prepare pastry for single crust pie and bake.
2. Crush 1 cup strawberries and put in small saucepan with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, simmer 2 minutes.
3. Sieve berry mixture back into saucepan and mix in cornstarch and sugar. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until thick.
4. Spread 1/4 cup of berry mixture over bottom and sides of pie shell.
5. Mix remaining 5 cups of strawberries (either whole or sliced) with remaining glaze and pour into baked pie shell.
6. Put pie in the fridge for 3-4 hours. Top chilled pie with whipped cream to serve.

Rhubarb Pie

Marilyn's Rhubarb Cream Pie

Every spring, Mom picks rhubarb from her backyard garden and makes this recipe from the original red-and-white-check-covered Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. She starts watching her rhubarb in March, hoping it will grow enough by Mother's Day to make a pie. When I call her, she updates me on the progress of the rhubarb in the spring.

When my sisters and I became mothers she began inviting us for a Mother's Day lunch and would make this pie for dessert.

Her pastry is from the recipe on the Maple Leaf Tenderflake Lard box and the pie always tasted best when baked in her old aluminum pie plate. She's now give the pie plate to me, so now I'm always watching the rhubarb in my front yard, planted under the Tulip tree, hoping the rhubarb grows enough  to be picked by Mother's Day.

When you pick fresh rhubarb, make sure you leave the main stem. Cut the leaves off right in the garden and put them around the plant as mulch, to deter insects.

Mom's original recipe needed 5 cups of fresh rhubarb and had a solid pie crust top.

If you don't have enough rhubarb or pastry, try the recipes that match the quantity you have.

Original Recipe using  5 cups of Fresh Rhubarb:

• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 2 large eggs
• 5 cups cut-up rhubarb stems

1. In a bowl, blend sugar, flour, nutmeg and butter.
2. Add lightly beaten eggs, beat smooth.
3. Put chopped rhubarb in a pastry-lined pan.
4. Pour batter over rhubarb.
5. Top with pastry round, flute edges of crust.  Prick top of pastry with fork.
6. Bake 10 minutes in a preheated 450 degree F oven.
7. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F. and bake 30-40 minutes more till done.

Lattice-Top 9" Pie using 4-1/2 cups of Rhubarb

This recipe is from the June 2003 Chatelaine magazine. 

• Pastry for a 9-inch two-crust pie
• 4-1/2 cups chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb, rinsed and dried.
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp melted butter
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Roll out a round of pastry on a lightly floured surface and line a 9-inch pie plate. Don't prick the crust. Set aside.
3. In a medium-size bowl, whisk 2 egg yolks with melted butter.
4. Stir sugar with flour and then stir into yolk mixture to form a paste.
5. Stir rhubarb into egg mixture and turn into pastry in pan.
6. Roll out remaining pastry dough and cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) wide strips.
7. Weave strips over filling to form a lattice pastry top.
8. Gently press edges to bottom crust and flute.
9. Bake pie on bottom rack of 425 degree F oven just until edges start to brown, about 10 minutes.
10. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F and bake until rhubarb is tender, 40-45 more minutes.
11. Remove pie from oven.
12. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Lattice-Top 10" Pie using 4 cups of Rhubarb

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3 beaten eggs
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 4 cups cut-up rhubarb
• 1 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 

Beat eggs slightly, beat in milk.

Mix sugar, flour and nutmeg together. Stir into egg mixture.

Mix in rhubarb.

Pour mixture into 10 inch pastry lined pie plate and dot with butter.

Cover with lattice top pastry.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes

Lattice Top 9" Pie Using 3 cups Rhubarb or Sour Cherries

• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 3 cups cut-up rhubarb or sour cherries
• 2 tsp butter

See instructions for Lattice Top 10" Pie.

NOTE: If pastry is browning too fast, turn temperature down to 375 degrees F.

             

Rhubarb Butter Crust Pie or  4" Tarts

This recipe is from the May, 2014 issue of Chatelaine Magazine. It has a butter pastry crust, made in a food processor, with a lattice top, and the filling is flavoured with vanilla.

Pastry

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp granulated white sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup cold, unsalted butter, cubed
• 4 to 5 Tbsp ice-cold water

Whirl flour with 2 tsp granulated sugar and salt in a food processor.

Add butter.

Pulse until finely crumbled.

With machine still running, add water, 1 Tbsp at a time, through the spout.

Continue whirling until a ball forms, 30 seconds.

Divide pastry in half.

Form into 2 discs.

Wrap each with plastic and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Filling

• 7 cups chopped fresh rhubarb, about 750g
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp coarse sugar

1. Combine rhubarb with 1 cup granulated sugar in a large saucepan and set over high.
2. Boil, then reduce heat to medium.
3. Cook, stirring often, until  mixture is very thick and reduced to 2-1/2 cups, 20-35 minutes.
4. Time will depend on water content of rhubarb.
5. Stir in vanilla and cool slightly, 5 min.

Assembly

1. Position oven rack in lower third of oven.
2. Preheat to 375 degrees F.
3. Beat egg with water in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 pastry disc into a 13 inch circle.
5. Lift onto a 9-inch metal pie pan set on a baking sheet.
6. Press dough over bottom and up sides of pan, leaving 1-inch overhang.
7. Scrape rhubarb mixture into pastry.
8. Brush overhang with egg wash.
9. Roll out second pastry disc into a 12 inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick.
10. Cut into twelve 3/4 inch strips.
11. Lay 7 pastry strips vertically across pie.
12. Fold back every other strip, then lay a new strip horizontally.
13. Straighten folded strips back across pie.
14. Fold back alternate strips, then place a new strip horizontally above the first one.
15. Repeat until pie is completely covered
16. Fold overhanging pastry over lattice strips to seal.
17. Crimp edges inside the pan.
18. Brush lattice and overhang with egg wash.
19. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
20. Bake in lower third of oven until golden brown, 50 to 60 minutes.
21. Transfer pie to a rack to cool completely, 1 hour.

To Make Four 4-Inch Tarts

1. Make pastry as above but divide pastry into thirds.
2. Shape one-third of the pastry into a cube.
3. Divide remaining two-thirds of the pastry into 4 discs.
4. Wrap each with plastic and chill 30 minutes.
5. Roll each disc into a 7 inch circle.
6. Press pastry into four 4-inch tart pans (1-1/4 inch deep) set on a baking sheet, leaving 1 inch overhang.
7. Brush overhang with egg wash.
8. Divide rhubarb mixture among the four pastry shells.
9. Roll out the pastry cube into a ten-inch square, about 1/8 inch thick.
10. Cut in half, making three rectangles.
11. Cut each rectangle crosswise into twelve 3/4 inch strips, creating 24 strips 5 inches long.
12. Lay 3 strips vertically across each tart.
13. Follow instructions for lattice top as in the pie, above.
14. Bake in lower third of oven until golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes.
15. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.