Homemade pie. Really, who doesn’t love it?! Celebrate Pi Day (that’s 3/14!) with these unique, mouthwatering pies from Lehman’s staff. We did a quick office poll, and these two family favorites stood out from the rest.
Grandma RaymondMattie’s Cottage Pie
From Michael, Lehman’s Web Developer:
Michael has an Amish background, so he shared the origin of the interesting one word Amish nickname in the pie’s title. The Amish have large families and a somewhat limited pool of first names, so they put a husband and wife’s name together to differentiate people. Michael says, “We actually used that quite a bit in my dad’s family. We have 3 Amanda Millers, my sister, my dad’s sister and also one of my dad’s sister-in-laws. So growing up, it used to be DaveManda, Mark’s Mom (or Sister ‘manda), and Little ‘Manda, although we don’t use those names as much anymore.”
According to Michael, the following recipe was always the highlight of Thanksgiving dinner (along with pumpkin pie, of course).
Grandma RaymondMattie’s Cottage Pie
This recipe is just for the pie filling. Prepare four raw pie shells beforehand.
- Yield: 4 pies 1x
Ingredients
Bottom (Karo) Filling:
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups dark karo syrup
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
Pie Top:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup Crisco
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 cups flour
Instructions
Make the bottom (Karo) filling:
Mix the ingredients for the bottom in blender for 1 minute. Divide evenly into four parts and pour into pie shells.
Assemble the pie top:
Mix ingredients by hand. Using a spoon, drop spoonfuls of the mixture on top of the karo filling in the pie shells.
Bake at 350 for 45 – 50 minutes until the center is firm.
The two layers blend during the baking process, but you wind up with a firm, almost cake-like upper portion and a thin layer of liquid at the bottom, right above the pie crust.
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Sour Cream Raisin Pie with Meringue Topping
From Andi, Lehman’s Data Analyst:
This pie probably hails from Iowa, where Andi’s mom first tasted it at a sorority function before she started school at Iowa State University. Andi says, “My mom makes her Iowa Pie Crust and Dad makes the filling. In our family, it’s called David and Pepa’s Sour Cream Raisin Pie because when my son David (who just turned 17!) was a toddler, he helped my dad, who he calls Pepa, make the pie.”
Sour Cream Raisin Pie
Ingredients
Pie filling:
- 1.5 cup raisins
- 1.5 cup brown sugar
- 1.5 cup sour cream
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 T. water
- 3 T flour
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1 baked pie shell
Meringue:
- 4 egg whites
- 1 t. cream of tartar
- 4 t. sugar
Instructions
For Pie Filling:
Heat raisins, sugar, and sour cream to boiling – stir to keep from burning.
Beat egg yolks with water; add flour. Mix well until smooth.
Gradually add to raisin mixture, stirring constantly until it returns to a boil.
Remove from heat and add vanilla.
Cool.
Pour into baked pie shell.
Add meringue. (Note: See meringue directions below.)
For Meringue:
Beat egg whites until frothy. Add cream of tartar. Beat until stiff enough to hold a peak.
Gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff and glossy.
Top pie, sealing edges with meringue.
Bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Keywords: desserts, pie
Bon appetit, pie lovers! Find lots of cool pie tools here – some hail from our moms’ and grandmoms’ day!
[…] you ever thought of celebrating Pi day? Pi and pie are homonyms, spelled differently but they sound the same, so eating pie on Pi Day is a […]