Recipes

Mincemeat Pie

Mincemeat Pie

Mincemeat pie likely had its beginnings during medieval times when spiced meat dishes were the order of the day and served as the main meal rather than dessert. It is probable that the Pennsylvania Germans learned this recipe from their English neighbors. Mincemeat pie fits well the needs of German farmers—it is a hearty meal; the meat was a by-product from home-butchering; the additional fruits could be varied according to the dried or canned supply that was in the attic or cellar. One grandmother remembers, “We’d eat it at butchering time. But Mom canned the mincemeat so we could have it anytime. Now I think I can’t make it because we don’t butcher. You see, Mom would cook the beef bones and then pick off the last bits of meat. Using the bones gave the meat and broth a full flavor you don’t get otherwise, and it used up every corner of the meat!”
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Simmer beef bone until meat is tender.
  • Cut in fine pieces.
  • Combine beef with remaining ingredients and simmer for 10–15 minutes (add beef broth if needed to keep mixture from getting dry).
  • Pour into unbaked pie shell.
  • Cover with top crust; seal edges thoroughly.
  • Bake at 425° for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 375° and bake another 35 minutes.

Notes & Wine Advice

Makes 1 9” pie
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Course; Beef / Quiche
Cuisine; Amish

Huckleberry Pie

Huckleberry Pie

“Huckle picking was an outing,” recalls an Amish grandfather. “We’d get up early, pack our lunches, and go down to the Welsh Mountain. There had been a forest fire years before and huckleberry bushes grew up where the trees once stood. “We would pick while the day was still cool. When it got hot we ate our lunches, picked some more, then took the berries home to can them. Often several of us families would go together.” Huckleberries are a kind of wild blueberry. Blueberries may be used in this recipe; the sugar may be adjusted depending upon the tartness of the berries.
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Stem and wash huckleberries.
  • Spoon into pie shell.
  • Mix juice, sugar, and flour together and pour over berries.
  • Cover with top crust, folding under top edge of bottom crust.
  • Bake at 425° for 10 minutes.
  • Reduce temperature to 350° and bake 30 minutes more.

Notes & Wine Advice

Makes 1 9” pie
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Course; Pie
Cuisine; Amish

Raisin Pie

Raisin Pie

Raisin pie was not on the weekly menu. “We had to buy the raisins. It just wasn’t as common as cherry because we grew our own cherries.” In contrast to some groups of Germanic heritage, the Lancaster Amish of this century do not—and have no memory of—serving raisin pie at their funerals. “We often have stewed prunes, but raisin pies are not a funeral tradition,” said a minister’s wife, whose explanation was corroborated by several others of varying ages. The most traditional pie is one in which the raisins are stewed in water and that juice is thickened, rather than a cream pie to which milk is added.
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Equipment

  • Saucepan

Ingredients

Instructions

  • In saucepan combine raisins, 1½ cups water, and 1 cup sugar and bring to a boil.
  • Combine the remaining ½ cup water and ½ cup sugar, plus flour, egg yolks, and salt; add to raisin mixture.
  • Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.
  • Remove from heat and add butter and vinegar or lemon juice.
  • Pour mixture into baked pie shell.
  • Cover with whipped cream or meringue.
  • Meringue
  • Beat egg whites till stiff peaks form.
  • Gradually add 2 Tbsp.
  • sugar while beating.
  • Pile on top of pie and bake at 350° till golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Notes & Wine Advice

Makes 1 9” pie
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Course; Pie
Cuisine; Amish

Grape Pie

Grape Pie

Concord grape arbors shade many Amish porches. Their summer fruit yields gallons of juice, batches of jam, and an occasional pie. The skins and seeds are obstacles to overcome, but the tangy flavor makes the effort worthwhile.
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Stem grapes, wash, drain, and squeeze from skins.
  • Set skins aside.
  • Simmer remaining pulp for 5 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and immediately put through food press (this will separate the seeds from the usable pulp).
  • Stir pulp and skins together.
  • Blend in sugar and flour.
  • Add lemon juice and butter.
  • Spoon into pie shell.
  • Cover with top crust.
  • Bake at 425° for 10 minutes; reduce temperature to 350° and bake an additional 30 minutes.

Notes & Wine Advice

Makes 1 9” pie
Variation:
  • 1 cup flour
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup melted butter Mix together until crumbly. Sprinkle over pie in place of the top crust.
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Course; Fruit / Pie
Cuisine; Amish

Ground-Cherry Pie

Ground-Cherry Pie

Ground-cherries grow wild in the Pennsylvania countryside. Stewards of the earth’s bounty, the Amish picked them for food, discovering them to be a tasty filling for pies.
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Cook cherries in 1½ cups water until mixture comes to a boil.
  • Meanwhile, mix together cornstarch, sugar, salt, and one cup water until smooth.
  • Stir into boiling cherries until fruit thickens.
  • Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
  • Soak gelatin in ⅓ cup water.
  • Add to fruit mixture, stirring well.
  • Spoon into unbaked pie shell and add top crust.
  • Bake at 400° for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 375° and bake 30 minutes longer.

Notes & Wine Advice

Makes 1 9” pie
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Course; Fruit / Pie
Cuisine; Amish

Pear Pie

Pear Pie

Many farmsteads had a wild seckel pear tree growing somewhere on the acreage. It was the domesticated pear trees in the family orchard or on local fruit farms, however, that provided the fruit for the seasonal pear pies. Canned pears could also be used to bring occasional variety to the family’s pie diet.
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Sift together flour and sugar.
  • Stir in cream and lemon juice.
  • Mix until smooth.
  • Add pears.
  • Pour into an unbaked pie shell.
  • Sprinkle top with sugar and cinnamon.
  • Bake at 400° for 45–50 minutes.
  • Cool until set

Notes & Wine Advice

Makes 1 9” pie
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Course; Fruit / Pie
Cuisine; Amish

Peach Pie

Peach Pie

From mid-July through the end of August, peaches are in full supply in eastern Pennsylvania. Family orchards produce some; fruit farms raise them in abundance. The Amish woman cans dozens of jars of peaches, but saves many for eating fresh—simply cut in slices or over shortcake or in pies.
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Ingredients

Crumbs

Instructions

  • Mix together gently peaches, sugar, salt, and tapioca.
  • Let blend for 5 minutes before spooning into pie shell.
  • Top with crumbs.
  • Bake at 425° for 45–50 minutes.

Crumbs

  • Mix together until crumbly and sift over pie.

Notes & Wine Advice

Makes 1 9” pie
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Course; Fruit / Pie
Cuisine; Amish

Custard Pie

Custard Pie

Most Amish families’ egg supplies have come from their own flocks of chickens. When there were plenty of eggs, the cook had a repertoire of dishes to make so that no eggs went to waste (fried or scrambled for breakfast or lunch, in sandwiches or on top of stewed crackers, mixed into noodles or angel food cake, and more). Custard pies were a welcome variation to the usual weekly fare.
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine sugar, flour, salt, and eggs and mix until smooth.
  • Heat milk to boiling point.
  • Add 1 cup hot milk to egg mixture.
  • Pour that into the remaining hot milk.
  • Pour into unbaked pie shell.
  • Sprinkle nutmeg over top.
  • Bake at 350° for 40–45 minutes.

Notes & Wine Advice

Makes 1 9” pie
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Course; Pie
Cuisine; Amish

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Gooseneck pumpkins grow in southeastern Pennsylvania. With some experimentation, and likely through association with their English neighbors, the German settlers discovered the pleasure of pumpkin, in combination with molasses, eggs, spices, and cream. It became a regularly prepared pie in Amish homes, with little or no connection to Thanksgiving or Christmas.
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients.
  • Pour into unbaked pie shell.
  • Sprinkle additional cinnamon and nutmeg over top of pie.
  • Bake at 450° for 15 minutes; then at 350° for 45 minutes.

Notes & Wine Advice

Makes 1 9” pie
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Course; Pie
Cuisine; Amish

Vanilla Pie

Vanilla Pie

Vanilla pie is a close cousin to shoofly pie, distinct from it mostly by the presence of vanilla in the syrupy bottom part.
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine all the above ingredients, except the vanilla, in a saucepan.
  • Bring to a boil and continue boiling until thickened.
  • Allow to cool and stir in vanilla.
  • Pour into unbaked shell.
  • Crumbs
  • Melt shortening.
  • Stir in dry ingredients.
  • Crumble over syrup.
  • Bake at 375° for 50–60 minutes.

Notes & Wine Advice

Makes 1 9” pie
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Course; Pie
Cuisine; Amish