This is the fourth instalment in my series about the five classic 91原创 desserts featured on a booklet of stamps released by Canada Post this year called Sweet Canada.
In my first two columns, I聽wrote about blueberry grunt, a聽dessert folks are fond of in Atlantic Canada, and tarte au sucre, a sublime pie popular in Quebec. In my third column, I聽wrote about butter tarts and noted that the first recipe was published in Ontario well over a聽century ago.
Today, the topic is Saskatoon berry pie, which has been long enjoyed in Canada鈥檚 prairie provinces.
In Canada Post鈥檚 description of the dessert on its website, it notes that Saskatoon berries, which are high in fibre, protein, antioxidants and other good things, were a staple for Indigenous people and early settlers. The berry鈥檚 name is聽derived from the Cree word mis芒skwat么mina, which also inspired the name of the city of聽Saskatoon, meaning 鈥渁t the Saskatoon berry.鈥�
Saskatoon berries are harvested from a wild, deciduous native shrub that grows from western Ontario to British Columbia and the Yukon, according to the 91原创 Encyclopedia (thecanadianencyclopedia.ca). They are also cultivated and farms selling Saskatoon berries can be found in many parts of the country.
According to the Saskatoon Berry Institute of North America (saskatoonberryinstitute.org), Saskatoon berries look much like blueberries, but are more closely related to the apple family. The institute says many would describe their taste as having a聽sweet, nutty almond flavour. In聽other words, something that鈥檚 great to bake in a pie.
When doing my research, I聽could not find a source that said exactly when or where the first Saskatoon berry pie was made, only that it鈥檚 an original 91原创 recipe. But it鈥檚 obviously been baked a long while and a sign of that is that over the decades several variations on how it鈥檚 made have developed.
For example, some recipes ask聽you to bake a cooked, thickened and cooled Saskatoon berry mixture in the pie. Others instruct you to put sugar-sweetened raw berries in the crust and聽bake and cook them inside the聽pie with a thickener, such as聽flour, tapioca or cornstarch.
Because the season for them lasts just a few weeks, most recipes say you can use fresh or frozen berries. I used the latter in my deep-dish-style Saskatoon berry pie recipe.
The berries for my pie came from a farm called South Island Saskatoons. They are located at 1245 Fisher Rd. in Cobble Hill and are the only place I know of that grows and sells Saskatoon berries on 91原创 Island.
Beyond berries, they also sell聽ready-to-bake Saskatoon berry pies and preserves made from the fruit, such as jam, jelly and syrup. For more information about South Island Saskatoons, go聽to southislandsaskatoons.com. On that website, you鈥檒l also find recipes using Saskatoon berries, including their version of Saskatoon berry pie.
Saskatoon Berry Pie
This deep-dish version of the dessert is loaded with Saskatoon berries, sweetened and flavoured with sugar, lemon and spice.
Preparation: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 50 to 55 minutes
Makes: 10 servings
6 cups frozen Saskatoon berries (about 1聽2/3 lbs)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus some for聽rolling
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp flemon juice
鈥� Flaky Pie Dough (see recipe below)
1 large egg, beaten
Place berries, sugar, 1/3 cup flour,聽cinnamon and nutmeg in a聽large bowl and toss to combine. Now mix in the water and lemon juice.
Set out a 9-inch (23 cm), four-cup capacity, deep-dish pie plate. Set one of the discs of dough on a lightly floured surface. Dust the top of it and your rolling pin with flour. Roll the dough from the centre out until it鈥檚 about two inches wider than the top of your pie plate. To create a round shape, give the dough an eighth of a turn after each roll, dusting with more flour if needed.
To make the move to the pie plate, carefully roll the dough around the rolling pin. Place the dough just above the front of the pie plate, and then gently unroll into it. If dough breaks when doing this, simply press back together.
Put the Saskatoon berry mixture into the piecrust (it will sit well above the rim of the pie plate, but the filling will sink and compact as it bakes). Brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg. Roll out the second disc of dough as you did the first. Set this top crust on, crimping the edges to seal. Trim off excess pastry (see Note).
Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg. Cut a small hole in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape. Refrigerate pie 20 minutes or more to firm up the dough.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 F. Bake pie in the middle of the oven 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 F and cook 50聽to 60 minutes more, or until pastry is rich golden and the filling is bubbling and very hot in聽the centre.
Cool pie to room temperature on a baking rack. Cut pie into wedges and plate and serve as is. Or, if desired, serve the pie with dollops or scoops of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Note: Save the pastry trimmings for another use, such as the聽topping for a sweet or savoury potpie.
Flaky Pie Dough
This is my go-to recipe for rich and flaky pie dough. Chilling the dough before rolling it gives the gluten time to relax and helps to聽yield tender pastry.
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: none
Makes: dough for a double-crust pie
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus some for聽shaping
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups cold vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (see Eric鈥檚 options)
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into tiny cubes
1 large egg, beaten with 1/3 cup ice-cold water
Combine the 3 cups flour and salt in a bowl. With a pastry cutter, two forks or with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, cut the shortening and butter into the flour until well blended.
Pour the egg/water mixture into the bowl; gently work it until it forms loose, moist dough that just holds together. Transfer dough聽to a lightly floured work surface.
With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into a ball. Cut the ball in half. Press each half into a 1/2-inch-thick disc. Wrap and refrigerate the discs for at least 20 minutes, before rolling out and using as described in the Saskatoon berry pie recipe or any other recipe.
Eric鈥檚 options: Cold, pure lard could replace the shortening in this recipe.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in聽the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
