One of my favourite things to do is get out into the bush and pick huckleberries. (how can you not want to be here with that view?)
When our kids were growing up, we often did this as a family, sometimes camping for the night. We all loved to get out there, but my oldest daughter, Kerri, is the only one of my kids who truly loves to come with me now and pick those luscious purple berries.
Huckleberries freeze well, and you can do many things with them, muffins, sauces, jams and jellies and juices. They have SO much tart flavour that my grandkids love to eat them all on their own frozen or freshly picked.
But the family favourite, and definitely my son-in-laws, is huckleberry pie.
I don’t consider myself the best pastry person, so use your favourite. I use the Five Roses Cookbook’s “Never fail Pastry.”
Ingredients for Pastry (enough for 2 pies with tops or 3 without):
- 5 1/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 cups shortening
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 3/4 cup cold water
Ingredients for fruit filling:
- 4 1/2 + cup Huckleberries (frozen)
- 3/4 cup flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp almond flavouring
- Deep dish 9″ pan
Instructions:
Making the Pie dough:
- Preheat oven to 400º F (you will cook for 10minutes at this temp and then lower to 350 for another 45-55 minutes)
- Mix together dry ingredients (flour, baking pwd, salt, brown sugar)
- Cut in shortening
- Mix together egg, vinegar and water
- add water mixture to dry (should be moist enough to stay together – mix as little as possible once the dough is off the edges of the bowl)
- Using flour on a dry surface, roll out a portion of the pastry into desired thickness that can cover the entire pie dish with extra to cut off afterwards
- Add fruit mixture to pie dish.
I try to put as many berries in as I can, of course it goes over sometimes!
Then, if you choose to add a top to the pie, have some fun adding any kind of design you’d like.
The finished Product:
– Until next time! Gwen
Rooted & Established 