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Raisin Pie
Take one cup of seeded and chopped raisins; the juice and rind of one lemon; one cup of cold water; one tablespoon of flour; one cup of sugar and two tablespoons of butter. Stir lightly together and bake with two crusts.
A four-line recipe that assumes the cook already knows how to line a pie plate and judge a hot oven. The proportions are sound; the assembly needs a little help.
- Cook the filling firstOne tablespoon of flour stirred cold into a cup of water will not thicken reliably in the time the crust needs. Simmer the raisins, water, sugar, lemon juice and flour together for four or five minutes until it thickens and clears, stir in the butter and rind off the heat, and let it cool before it goes into the shell. This is the difference between a set slice and a puddle.
- "Seeded" raisinsAt the time this meant raisins whose seeds had been picked or squeezed out by hand, often Muscats. Any modern seedless raisin — Thompson or dark sultana — is already there; chop them coarsely so they hold some texture.
- Lemon rindGrate only the yellow zest of the lemon and keep the white pith out. With the juice, the rind carries most of the seasoning in the pie, so use all of it.
- OvenThe recipe gives no temperature. A hot oven, around 425F for the first 15 minutes to set and colour the bottom crust, then dropped to 350F for a further 25 to 30 minutes, should get you a browned top and filling bubbling at the vents.
- Two crustsCut steam vents or a lattice in the top; a sealed lid over a wet filling will lift and split. Brush with milk or a little beaten egg if you want gloss.
- Pan and yieldThe quantities fill a 9-inch pie plate and give six to eight servings. You will need pastry for a double crust, about 2 1/2 cups of flour's worth.
- CoolingLet it stand at least two hours. Raisin filling thickened with flour continues to set as it cools and will run if cut warm.
Raisin pie belongs to the long tradition of "winter" pies made when no fresh fruit was in the house — dried apples, mincemeat, vinegar pie, raisin pie. It is best known in Pennsylvania Dutch communities as rosina or "funeral pie," so called because the ingredients kept in the pantry year-round and could be assembled at short notice for a large gathering; the association is traditional rather than documented to any single origin. The Butterick Publishing Company, better known for dress patterns and The Delineator, issued this cook book as part of a broader line of household manuals aimed at the same middle-class readership.