Once upon a time, before super-charged blenders blasted food into nutriment, home cooks nourished their families with lovingly-prepared, affordable, real food.
My Dad started making this Currant Pie in 1976. Family legend says it was this pie he used to woo a wife and win over a Mother-in-law.
Currant Pie
- 1 cup SR flour
- 1 cup plain flour
- pinch salt
- 150g butter
- 1 egg yolk
- 1-2 tbs cold water
- squeeze lemon juice
Filling
- 1½ cups currants
- 1½ cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tbs cornflour
- 2 tbs lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Method
Sift flours and salt. Rub in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Put egg yolk in a cup, break up with a fork and add most of the yolk to water and lemon juice leaving a little yolk in the cup for glazing pastry. Add egg yolk, water and lemon juice mixture to flour mixture, sprinkling it over as evenly as possible. Press the mixture against the side of the basin with a fork or your hand until it holds together as a mass.
If it is too dry and crumbly, it will be necessary to sprinkle over a very little more cold water (iced water in summer to counteract warmer hands and atmosphere).
Pale streaks of dampness through the pastry indicate excess moisture. It is better to have the pastry tending to crack than too moist. You can always press it together if it cracks when you roll it out and done worry if it cracks a little during cooking, showing some filling.
Now that you have the pastry to a perfect consistency, chill until filing is prepared then diving into two, one section a little larger than the other. Roll out the larger piece so that it will fir the bottom of a 23cm pie plate.
Rolling the pastry over a rolling pin to get it over the greased pie plate is accepted practice but if I’ve made mine extra short and it’s a mass of pressed-together cracks, Is lide a semi rigid plastic pastry sheet under it, lift it up flat and carefully slide it off over the plate.
Press carefully into the base of the plate, easing in extra pastry rather than stretching it. Trim edges with a sharp knife. Roll out the other piece to fit top of pie.
Fill the shell with the hot filling, moisten edges of pastry with a little water or milk and pit on lid, pressing the edges together with the fingers to make a decorative edging.
Make a few holes in the top of the pastry with a fork to allow steam to escape and brush top of pie with the raining egg yolk mixed with a little water and a pinch of salt - this will give an attractive glaze to the finished pie.
Bake in moderately hot oven about 20 - 30 minutes or until the pastry is nicely browned and sounds crisp when tapped with the fingers.
Filling
Put currants and water in saucepan and simmer 10 minutes. Add sugar and simmer a further 5 minutes. (Remember, don’t add the sugar at commencement of cooking for dried fruits - they won’t plump up so well.) blend cornflour with little water, add to currants and cook, stirring until thickened. Add lemon juice and zest. Allow mixture to cool only slightly, pouring into pie shell while still hot.
Serve hot with cream, ice-cream or custard or serve cold.
Serves 6 - 8.
In hindsight, it may not have solely been currant pie that won Mum and her family over. Who could resist this handsome young chap? Butter wouldn't melt between his pastry-rolling fingers!
has a meal ever changed the course of your life?
Lydia C. Lee says
Sweet! (see what I did there?!)
Sammie @ The Annoyed Thyroid says
This looks like an oldie but a goodie. I love it! And the story is pure gold!
Ai Sakura says
Aww I love the history behind this pie! Looks really delicious too..
Ai @ Sakura Haruka
Have A Laugh On Me says
A handsome devil if ever I saw one! And he bakes! WOW. I'm not a currently a currant fan, I'm tired so excuse the lamo joke! x
claireyhewitt01 says
I could be won with a pie too I think, but I want potatoes, meat (bacon??) and then a berry pie for dessert. There isn't enough pie in the world.
Lisa@RandomActsOfZen says
Who doesn't love a good old fashioned recipe, with a lovely family story to go with it?
And I noticed on the competition details in the corner, you had to actually post your recipe in. How times have changed 🙂
Rachel_OurTownBNE says
Brook made me a croquembouche for my 25th birthday. That's when I knew he was a keeper 😉
Kylie Purtell - A Study in Contradictions says
I could definitely be won with a Pie but it would have to feature a lot of lemon and meringue! That's pretty awesome of your Dad, I think the only things my Dad knows how to cook are boiled eggs and tomato soup from a can!
mamagrace71 says
Naw! Gorgeous! And yes, a handsome devil indeed! Nothing like a man wooing a woman (let alone his MIL) with baked goods.
Lauren @ Create Bake Make says
A gorgeous pie like this one would have been enough to win me over! My husband can bake too and whips up a pretty good peach butter cake!
Rachel_OurTownBNE says
It would have been a pretty big deal for a bloke like your dad to bake a pie in those days. He must have been so keen to impress your grandparents! This would be so good with lashings of custard I reckon. YUM!
NewLifeOnTheRoad (@NewLifeOnRoad) says
Oh that looks so very yummy....and I can't have any!!! We have gone off grains and are sugar free for the time being 🙁
But gee what a way to impress the in-laws with cooking such a yummy dish, and yes what a good looking bloke he was!
Cindy @Your Kids OT says
I love the story behind this recipe! How special.
Jodie@Fresh Home Cook says
I love that you have the original article! I can definitely see why your Dad won some hearts - very handsome young man. xx
bakeplaysmile says
How gorgeous that your dad used to make this. What a special meal! I'm going to try it out too. Any recipe that has a great story is a winner with me! xx