My Grandma Zumbrun used to make grape pie, so in a fit of nostalgia and grapes I made one yesterday.
Our grapevine, despite having been savaged by rabbits last produced grapes like crazy this year.
I didn’t expect to get any grapes this year because of the rabbit damage. So I didn’t prune the vines or thin the grapes. We ended up with lots and lots of little grapes.
Debbie glanced at that bowl and asked, “what are you doing with blueberries?” That’s about the size they are.
To make a grape pie you start removing the skins from the grapes. Yes, every one of this little grapes I picked up, pinched it on the end away from the stem, and if everything was right the plup and seed would pop right out.
This made me really wish I’d thinned the grapes so I would have had fewer big plump grapes to skin. It took me about a half hour to skin 4 cups of grapes and by the time I was done there were skins and pulp everywhere and I looked like I’d dispatched a large and very bloody creature with my bare hands.
You cook the pulp briefly and run it through a food mill to remove the seeds. Then you recombine the pulp and the skins. The skins give you the deep purple color and a lot of flavor. Your reward, I guess, for going to the work of skinning all those grapes.
Into the oven it goes and about 45 minutes later…
And after cooling, the splendid result.
It tastes just like you’d expect, like grape jam. It’s a lot of work, but it makes an unusual and tasty pie for a different sort of treat.
Grape Pie
For 1 8″ pie
Ingredients
About 4 cups of red grapes
Sugar
Cornstarch or flour or tapioca
Salt
Butter
Pie crust
Procedure
Prepare your favorite 2 crust recipe
Peel the grapes by pinching them at the end opposite the stem, put the seeds and pulp in one bowl and the skins in another
Bring the seeds and pulp to boil and simmer for 5 minutes
Allow to cool and then run through a food mill or colander to remove the seeds
Combine the skins and pulp (they can sit for several hours and continue to pick up flavor and color)
Heat your oven to 450
Add sugar to taste to the grapes. My grapes are very tart and I used about a cup of sugar. If your grapes are sweet you may want to add some lemon juice for tartness.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Add 1 to 4 tablespoons of cornstarch (or whatever thickener you like). I used about 3 tablespoons as my grapes were very juicy.
Pour grape mixture into bottom pie crust
Top with dabs of butter if you like
Cover with top crust, seal and crimp and make cuts for venting
Bake 10 minutes at 450 and then turn oven down to 350
Bake another 30 minutes or until bubbling and the crust is golden
Allow to cool several hours at least before slicing.
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