Saskatoon Pie 

One of my all time favourite pies, Saskatoon pie makes an appearance in our home every Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is a favourite that is asked for again and again.

Ingredients

1 quart Canned Saskatoons  with liquid

1/2 cup sugar

¼ cup water

3 tbsp corn starch

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp almond extract

Directions

Filling

1. Heat berries and sugar on the stove on medium heat. Heat until sugar is dissolved.  

2. Mix cornstarch and water.  Add to saskatoons, stiring constantly until mixture thickens.. Remove from heat.

3. Add lemon juice, butter and almond extract. Cool.

4. Use as a filling for a double crust pie.

   Pie Crust

   1. Mix flour and salt in mixer.  Cut butter and lard into ¼ to ½ inch cubes and add to mixer.  Process on low with the wire whip attachment until the mixture looks and feels mealy and the butter and lard is pea sized.  Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. Mix vinegar and water together. Add 1 tbsp of water/ vinegar mixture at a time until the flour mixture is wet.   Stir with a fork until pastry comes together.

   2. Pat into 2 balls.  Place in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

   3. Remove from refrigerator.  Flour countertop and rolling pin.  Roll out the pastry to a thickness of ¼ inch and large enough to overlap edges of pie plate. Cut off overlap. Decorate the edges of the pie crust with cut outs from cookie cutters if you want to make the pie look festive.

   4. Bake at 425°F for 15. Turn the temperature down to 375℉ and continue to bake for 30 minutes.

   Tip: to prevent the crust edges from burning place tinfoil around the edges of the pie about 25 minutes into the baking process.