Raisin Pie

Life has gotten a little complex. I have two jobs, a new house, a garden to plant, and a few other things to do. This is why I have not been able to blog in a while. With little free time it takes much longer to read, but my beloved pen-pals came up with a solution for this. They decided I blog about other things in my life. After much consideration I decided this was a great idea, and I will start by blogging about a recipe for raisin pie.

Original recipe:

Old Fashioned Raisin Pie I

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of raisins 
• 2 cups of water 
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar 
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch 
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt 
• 1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar 
• 1 tablespoon of butter 
• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie 

Directions: 

1. Combine raisins and water in a small saucepan. Boil 5 minutes. Blend brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt together; add to hot raisins. Cook and stir until syrup is clear. Remove from heat, and stir in vinegar and butter/margarine. Cool slightly. 
2. Turn filling into a pastry lined pan. Cover with top crust. Seal edges, and cut slits in the top crust. 
3. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes. 

Recipe source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/12412/old-fashioned-raisin-pie-i/ 

Notes: 

Raisin pie is one of my favorite recipes. It is simple, easy, and it has one of my favorite foods as the star: raisins. Raisins have fallen out of style, and I am not sure why. They help add to the depth of flavor in many of my favorite recipes. Cinnamon rolls, bread pudding, and rice pudding are a few recipes I feel are simply incomplete without raisins; however, in these recipes raisins are not the main component. This is why I love raisin pie: raisins are the star with their chance to shine! 

The first thing I did to alter this recipe was to double the filling. I wanted a really full pie and to double the recipe seemed to best way to do it. 

The second thing I did was to substitute 1/4 of the total raisins into craisins. 1 cup was craisins while the remaining 3 cups were raisins. In the end I felt this added a much larger depth of flavor. The taste really came out in the end product. Even though this recipe is raisin pie I would substitute craisins again. 

The third change I made was adding nutmeg, which my best friends know is my secret ingredient. The recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of cinnamon so I used 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. I felt this added the final push that was needed in the flavor profile. 

The final change I made was to only use one crust. With raisin pie I never understood the need to use a top crust. The end product holds its shape fine and I think it is more appealing to the eye. 

In the end, I felt this recipe was a success! The only issue I had was baking time. My pie required more time in the oven (I assume because I doubled the filling). I greatly enjoyed this sweet dessert (especially with coffee!) and my coworkers have found it tasty even though they do not enjoy raisins. I would bake this again in a heartbeat. 

I give this recipe a 7.2 out of 10.