Raisin Pie for Grandpa

Hi everyone! This is Amy coming at you with a new pie this week. 

I have to say that I am SO blessed to have an amazing, supportive family in my life. My fave uncle Gary is a great source for recipes and general cooking/baking info and when he mentioned a few weeks ago that my grandfather's fave pie was raisin I knew it was the next pie I wanted to make for the blog. 

You see, I never really knew my grandparents. Gary (and my dad's) dad passed away when I was five and I have very few memories and a few photographs like this classic one: 

Yup....that would be me on the left! One of my favourite things about spending time with my aunts and uncles is hearing stories about my grandparents...it makes me feel closer to them in small ways and so did making this pie. 

Raisin pie was a total sleeper hit. What I mean is....I LOVE raisins and baked goods with raisins in them but you guys....this pie is basically ALL raisins and I wasn't sure how that would work. It worked.

It was yummy!

So starting at the beginning. I used THIS recipe for an all butter pie crust. This was actually also the first time I've attempted a lattice crust....which was kind of a hot mess but ended up looking OK and really, it's something you are going to eat and rustic is charming....right?

I found a recipe HERE for raisin pie.

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups cold water
• 2 cups golden raisins
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter 
• 1 Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)

Mix sugar and flour together in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Add water and mix, making sure to try and get out any lumps of flour. Add raisins, salt and cinnamon. Bring to boil and let boil for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in 1 tbsp butter. Fill pie shell and top with lattice crust. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is set. 

I was amazed at how the filling thickened, it was really loose and watery when it went into the oven but it thickened up nicely. This pie was lovely served warm and would be AMAZING with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream. 

Gary, thanks for telling me about grandpa's favourite pie. I love it!