Saskatoon Berry Pie

Saskatoon Berries are found wild in the western provinces of Canada. In Ontario they are planted as a landscape shrub called Serviceberry. They are also known as juneberry and shadbush.

According to literature from the British Columbia government, the Saskatoon was the most popular and widely used berry for native peoples. Saskatoons were a common item of trade between interior and coastal people.

The berries are an excellent source of vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, iron and a good source of calcium, potassium, copper and carotene. Because the edible seeds are consumed, the berries are also higher in protein, fat and fibre than most other fruits.

Saskatoon Berry Pie is a delicious berry pie, tasting like a mixture of cherries, plumbs and apples.

My friend Doug was going to take me to pick the Saskatoons used in this pie, but it was raining the morning that we were going to go and I was not available later that day. Fortunately, he was and he picked the berries for me! The season is short and the birds are also on the hunt for ripe berries.

Saskatoon Berry Pie is amazing!

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Ingredients

1 9 inch pastry recipe (see my Crisco recipe below)
5 Cups Saskatoons or Serviceberries
2/3 cups white sugar
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 Tsp grated lemon rind
1/2 Tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp whipping cream (may substitute with half and half)
1 Tsp white sugar (to dust on moistened top)
2 Tbsp milk (to seal the top and bottom of the pie or to gently moisten the top crust)

Directions


Preheat the oven to 400 deg F. Prepare and roll out the Crisco pastry recipe. Line a 9 inch pie plate .

In a large bowl mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon and the lemon rind. Add the Saskatoon berries and gently toss to coat them.

Transfer the berry mixture to the pastry lined pie plate. Trim the bottom pastry to just beyond the edge of the pie plate. Dot with the butter and distribute the whipping cream evenly over the pie.

Moisten the edges of the pie with a little bit of water on your finger. Roll out the top of the pastry until it is just larger than the top of your pie. Roll the pastry around the rolling pin and then unroll it over the pie. Using two fingers, crimp the e)dge of the pie. Cut slits in the top (I also added an "S" for Saskatoon Berry. Again barely moisten the top of the pie with the milk. Sprinkle the sugar over the top.

Bake at 400 deg F for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 deg F and continue to bake for another hour or until the filling starts to bubble through the slits. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Serve plain or with a scoop of ice cream.

Crisco Pastry

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Serves

enough for a double-crust pie

Ingredients

2 Cups all purpose flour
1/4 Tsp salt
1 cup Crisco shortening
4 Tbsp water

Directions


Measure the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the shortening and cut it in using a pastry cutter or two knive cutting together until the flour/shortening mixture resembles pea sized pieces

Mix in the water and stir with a fork, just until all the ingredients are clinging together. Do not over mix or the pastry will be tough.

Flour the top of your counter and around the sides of your rolling pin. Draw together about 1/2 of the pastry mixture and liberally sprinkle with flour. Pat into a circle about an inch thick and then roll it out to about 1/4 of an inch thick.

At this stage, you can either cut the dough into circles to fit into tart tins or use this half of the recipe to fill the bottom of a 8 - 10 inch pie plate. If you are making tarts, you can probably re-roll the scraps one or two more times and then the remaining pastry will be too tough to work with. Repeat with the second half of the pastry.

Pastry needs to be baked at a high temperature (400 deg F) for at least 10 minutes for pies that are then reduced to about 350 deg F until the filling is cooked or for tarts you may continue to cook at 400 deg F for about another 5 minutes to cook the centre and finish the cooking of the pastry.