Red Currant Cherry Pecan Pie

I have been sick with a bad head cold for a two weeks now, and have not really felt like doing anything, let alone baking. However, today, on a day where we had nothing to do, where I could rest and watch movies all day, I felt like baking again. More so, I wanted pie and the only way I was going to get pie was to make some myself as I am feeling a bit better, but not good enough to go to the store. Also, since I didn't feel like going to the store, I had to scrounge my cupboards, fridge and freezer for ingredients to make said pie. Thankfully, we have a garden in summer that produces enough so that we can freeze a few fruits and vegetables. I found blueberries, cherries, currants in the freezer, and a ready-made pie crust in the fridge. I then set out to find a recipe that fit these ingredients. I found a perfect sounding one on the Canadian Living website for Red Currant Cherry Almond Pie.

I had issues from the start though...

I opened the pie crust and noticed it looked funny (grayish) and smelled a little funny (musty). What I thought was going to be a quick and easy pie suddenly was not quite so easy. Luckily, the recipe I chose had a link to a flaky pie crust recipe. I had watched my husband make pie crust before and helped a friend make one for a banana cream pie a few weeks ago, but I had never made one on my own. I got to use the new rolling pin my step-mother gave us. Since my husband was aware of my inexperience with pie crust, he checked in on me every few minutes. He once again instructed me not to "over handle the dough". This seems to be the ever present, most important rule in everything I bake!

I made the bottom crust with no problems, except for not really knowing how much was the right amount of water to add, and I froze the second on a cookie sheet, as directed.



I thawed the berries while making the crust, though they required a bit of rinsing to speed the process up. I mixed the fruit with the flour and sugar, which made a thick, goopy, and almost unnatural looking pink mixture. I did not have the almond extract the recipe calls for, so I used vanilla extract instead. The recipe also called for blanched almonds to be laid in the bottom pie crust, which I did not have. I used chopped up pecans instead. I then poured the mixture into the bottom pie crust and got the top one out of the freezer. The crust that was in the freezer had become so hard that I couldn't work with it. I tried picking it up and feared it would break. There was no way it was going to mold to the bottom crust/pie the way it was, so I let it sit out for a bit to soften up. Once it did, it attached to the other pretty well, especially when pinched together with the other.



I cut the slits in the pie, brushed the pie with the specified milk and sugar mixture and put in the oven. The pie did not brown in the recipe specified baking time, so I left it in the over longer (an extra 20 minutes!). I assumed this pie was supposed to brown, since every other pie I have made has browned at least a little bit. Granted, those were always made with pre-made pie crusts... Also, the milk and sugar mixture pooled around the edges of the pie so much I worried it would be soggy. So, halfway through baking I tried to soak some up with a paper towel.

The pie looked good, but when I cut a piece, there was a very sticky film (from the milk and sugar mixture I assume) on top of the crust and it was very hard. I don't know if it was that sticky film, or the fact I left the pie in longer so it would brown, that made the crust so hard to cut through. The crust is also not as light and flaky as I would have thought. Maybe I over handled the dough, or again, maybe I overcooked it.

After we both tried a piece, I asked my husband for his opinion. He said the pie was very sweet, more so than he likes. I thought it tasted good, but I would agree with him on the sweetness - not what I would expect from tart currents and tart cherries. Overall, I would say this pie was pretty good - a decent turnout from what I had around the house, and for my first time making my own pie crust. Maybe the next one will go better.