canning pie filling

Old fashioned saskatoon pie is a taste of the Canadian prairies. This flavourful berry makes for a most delicious pie; deep glorious purple, lightly sweet with a bit of tang, and that indescribable, complex flavour that comes from this unique berry. Use fresh saskatoons, frozen ones, or can the filling for winter time.

Old Fashioned Saskatoon Pie

pie dough

(1½lbs/680 gramsms) saskatoon berries, fresh

lemon juice

(100 gramsms) sugar (preferably natural evaporated cane sugar)

sweet rice flour cornstarch

almond extract or 1 teaspoon rosewater (optional)

optional, sugar

(60 gramsms) salted butter

(70 gramsms) sugar, (preferably natural evaporated cane sugar)

(70 gms) gluten free flour mix (or all purpose flour

(45 gramsms) small-flaked rolled oats (quick oats), (gluten free if necessary)

finely grated organic lemon zest cinnamon ((optional))

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the saskatoon berries and the lemon juice (and water, if using frozen berries), stirring often, until the berries release some of their juices and shrink a bit, about 5 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and the sweet rice flour or cornstarch until they are well combined. Dump these into the berries and bring them to a boil, stirring often. Once they boil, cook the pie filling until it is thickened,  about 30 seconds. Stir in the almond extract or rosewater, if you are using it. (If you used frozen berries, the filling may look quite thick at this point, but the berries will release more juice as the pie bakes.)

Remove the saskatoon pie filling from the heat and allow it to cool completely. At this point, the filling can be refrigerated for up to 5 days before being used in a pie. It can also be used as a cooked fruit pudding, to eat with yogurt, to top a cheesecake, or on pancakes.

For the Filling:

Preheat the oven to 425&deg;F (220&deg;C).

Roll out the pie pastry into two circles a little larger than your pie dish (one a little larger for the bottom crust).

Line your choice of pie plate with the bottom crust. Pour in the cooled saskatoon pie filling and smooth the top. Add a top crust or layer of streusel topping (recipe above, instructions below). If using the top crust; roll it out, lay it on top of the pie, press the edges together, then trim off the excess pastry. Crimp the edges and cut vent slits into the top of the pie. Brush the top of the pie with the cream and sprinkle it with the 2 teaspoons of sugar if desired.

Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350&deg;F (180&deg;C) and bake for another 40 to 45 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling up a bit through the vent holes. If the edges of the crust get too brown, cover them with strips of foil halfway through the baking time.

Eat warm or at room temperature. Saskatoon Pie is great with vanilla ice cream.

Cuts into 6 or 8 wedges.

To Make the Pie:

Place all the streusel ingredients in a bowl and cut them together with a pastry blender until they are well mixed and form pea-sized crumbs. You can also work them together with your hands or mix them with an electric mixer (do not overmix or the ingredients will bind to form a dough &ndash; which you&rsquo;ll have to crumble apart to make a streusel). Spread the streusel crumbs across the filling in a pie and bake as directed.

To Make the Optional Streusel Topping:

Home canned strawberry pie filling is a tasty way to preserve a rich strawberry filling right on the pantry shelf.  It&#x27;s perfect for pies, of course, but it&#x27;s also great for topping cheesecakes and other desserts.

Canning Strawberry Pie Filling

strawberries (sliced, from 1 quart of fresh fruit, about 2 lbs)

+ 2 Tbsp. Sugar

+ 1 Tbsp. Clear Jel

water (or juice)

Bottled lemon juice

strawberries

Sugar

Clear Jel

Water (or juice)

Lemon

Before you begin, prepare a water bath canner, jars, and lids.&nbsp;

Start by washing and draining the strawberries.&nbsp; Thaw them in a colander over a bowl and reserve the juice if using frozen fruit.

Hull the strawberries and slice them.&nbsp; The size of the slices is up to you, I tend to halve the smaller strawberries and quarter the larger ones.&nbsp; Leave them a bit on the large side, as they shrink during canning, and very small pieces will fall apart during cooking.

Bring a few quarts of water to a boil on the stove and blanch the strawberries for 30 seconds to 1 minute until they're heated through.&nbsp; Work in batches, and be gentle with the fruit so it doesn't fall apart.&nbsp; Remove them with a slotted spoon and keep them warm while making the clear gel mixture.

Combine sugar and clear jel in a large pot, big enough to hold all the fruit comfortably.&nbsp; Add cold water or cold juice to the pot and whisk to dissolve the clear jel completely.&nbsp; This is important!&nbsp; Do not turn on the heat until the clear jel is fully dissolved into the water.

Turn on the heat to medium-high and whisk continuously until the mixture begins to bubble and thicken.&nbsp; As soon as it bubbles, add lemon juice and cook for 1 additional minute.

Turn off the heat and fold in the drained berries.

Immediately fill the canning jars with the mixture, taking extra care to de bubble the jars as the mixture will be thick.&nbsp; Leave 1-inch headspace.

Cap the jars with 2 part canning lids and twist on rings to finger tight.&nbsp; Process in a water bath canner for 30 minutes, adjusting for altitude.&nbsp; Canning times are the same for pints and quarts.&nbsp;

Once the processing time is complete, turn off the heat and allow the jars to sit undisturbed in the canner for about 10 minutes.  This reduces the risk of siphoning as you remove the jars from the canner.  (If you skip this step, there&#39;s a good chance the thick mixture will siphon out of the lid as the jars cool.  That&#39;s not a safety issue, and the jars are still fine to eat if they do still seal, but it makes a big mess, and you lose some of the contents of the jar.)

Remove the jars from the canner with a jar lifter and allow them to cool on the counter for 12 to 24 hours.  Check seals, and store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator for immediate use.

Properly canned and sealed jars of strawberry pie filling will maintain peak quality on the pantry shelf for about 12 months.  Refrigerate after opening.

We have previously substituted In the Raw brand All-Purpose stevia sweetener for sugar when canning as it is heat stable &amp; suitable for use when canning but it's now become very difficult to find. Would similar stevia blended sweeteners (without Monkfruit) be suitable/safe to use in these recipes?

Yesterday my batch was only 5 jars so when I made it today I measured the strawberries after blanching in quart jars. I used 7 qts but finished with 8 1/4 jars. My question is is the batch safe because the ratio of lemon juice would then be off? Do I have to add more lemon juice and recan the batch?

Tastes sates  good. I only got 5 jars. I thought I used almost 8 qts of berries. Thick as pudding, I’m thinking because it only made 5 jars it will be way too thick.

Once canned is it just dump in a pie crust and chill? Or do you have to heat up the filling and then chill it? Maybe a dumb question but any other fruit pie fillings I’ve canned you have to bake the pie after and normally when I make strawberry pie you don’t…

Thank you for your perfect recipe I made pie filling it was amazing, I put up quarts and pints, so I can use for fried pies, put on pancakes waffles ect.  I just wish that the cook jel could be found in our area in the store so my new mission is to convince one grocery store to stock it.

You say to use juice for strawberry pie filling, what kind of juice?

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Old Fashioned Saskatoon Pie

Canning Strawberry Pie Filling

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Old Fashioned Saskatoon Pie

Canning Strawberry Pie Filling

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