Cherry-Gooseberry Pie

The season on Gooseberries is so short you need to grab them when you see them. They freeze well but are not commercially grown it is always in my experience a local independent farmer what brings them to market. A good Gooseberry is tart and firm, they make a great counterpoint to a sweet fruit like a Cherry! This particular pie is one of my all time favorites because of all the wonderful flavors in it. I am a fan of the tartness of the Gooseberries if you want a sweeter pie add more sugar or sweetener of your choice. This pie crust is an old family recipe made vegan by me commercially prepared pie crusts are available for people that don't have the time to make their own but I promise mine is much more tasty so try your hand at it and let me know what you think!

Pie Crust Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of unbleached flower

• 3/4 cup cold vegan butter

• 1 tbsp sugar

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 9 tbsp ice water

Directions:

Before you start chill everything even the dry ingredients. I use my kitchenaid mixer for this recipe but you can do it by hand or use a food processor as well. Mix all dry ingredients together until well mixed. Add a small amount of the butter about a tablespoon mix until there are lumps in the dough then add another tablespoon until butter is all mixed in. The dough should be lumpy. Then add the ice water one tablespoon at a time until water is all added. Dough should be cold and a bit tacky. Do not over work the dough, it will get very gummy. After dough is mixed place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes but up to an hour if you are not pressed for time. Remove dough and place on a floured surface to roll with rolling pin, its best to dust the rolling pin as well. Roll to about 1/3 inch thick place in bottom of your 9' pie pan.

the crust rolled out

Filling:

• 1 1/2 quarts cherries pitted (there are gadgets that stone your cherries for you in all the kitchen stores, but I am a fan of a large paper clip sanitized, and bent into an S, these are the easiest for me to work with, and take up a lot less room than a big cherry stoner)

• 1 quart gooseberries

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 3 tbsp flour (as a binding agent)

these cherries are pitted!

gooseberries added

Directions:

Mix sugar and vanilla together well, add the cherries and gooseberries, mix well. Place in large pot on low heat for about 10 minutes, this will release the juices in some of the fruit, add the flour and stir well, be careful not to break any of the fruit. Place in pie dish over rolled out dough.

ready for the oven!

For lattice work cut remaining dough in 1/2' strips and weave over top of pie. The leaf pattern in the middle was done by eye using left over dough, not necessary but pretty! Bake at 400 for about an hour or until berries are soft when poked and crust is a golden color.

Done and yum!