Honey-Sweetened Gooseberry Pie
Mmm... honey-sweetened gooseberry pie. Oh, yes.
First, a confession: I suck at making pies. Harsh, but true. It's just that whole precision baking thing that really gets to me. I'm more of a “feel” type of personality in the kitchen — a little of this, a little of that. Baking ain't that way.
Baking recipes be all like, “follow me exactly or die.” Too harsh for me.
But I love pie. So what's a farm girl to do? The answer is to make ugly pies.
Pie makers may judge my lack of pie weights, filling-to-crust ratio, and technique. But that doesn't bother me. I have some strengths... like... ya know... cleaning bathrooms. Or loving bearded men.
We can't be winners at it all. But we can enjoy honey-sweetened gooseberry pie.
By the way, if you've never tried gooseberries, you're missing out. Hugh of River Cottage inspired me to grow a few gooseberry bushes in my potager garden, and I'm so thankful! Super tart. Super tasty.
Mmm. Goo. Delicious.
Gooseberries. Goo. Good. Glorious. Gastronomically pleasant.
And Amen.
Honey-Sweetened Gooseberry Pie
Ingredients:
1 recipe pie crust
2 cups gooseberries (or berries of choice!)
2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2″ pieces (or additional gooseberries)
1 1/4 cup honey (we used the honey from our very own bees!)
1/4 cup organic (all-purpose flour)
Beans from one vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions:
Make your pie crust (check out my pie crust recipe!)
In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the gooseberries, rhubarb, and one tablespoon of water. Bring the mixture to a low simmer and allow it to continue to simmer until the gooseberries *pop* and it all sort of dissolves into a beautiful goo.
Once the rhubarb and gooseberries have gooified (yes, that’s a word…ahem), add in the honey, flour, and vanilla beans. Stir, stir, stir to combine, making sure that there are no lumps of flour.
Carefully pour the pie filling into the pre-baked pie shell. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until the pie filling is set. Because this pie is sweetened with honey, it tends to have a slightly gooier texture than its sugar-sweetened relative. That’s okay. Who doesn’t love gooey pie?
