Mom Williams Grape Pie Recipe

by Zac Hawkins
(IL)

Bake a grape pie!

Do you want to surprise your family and friends at the next get together or holiday with something unique and delicious everyone will talk about?

For those of you who have never heard of grape pie let me explain.
It's not like a lemon, or pudding type pie, but rather along the order of cherry pie, only made with grapes.

Every fall my grandmother would make several from concord grapes that grew in the numerous arbors around town. Back in those days we knew nothing of seedless grapes, so creating the filling went like this.

First you removed the skin from the grapes one at a time and put them into a large sauce pan, added water and sugar, and simmered it while you removed the seeds from the meat of the grapes. After this time consuming process you added the meat to the skin and sugar mixture to complete your filling.

Since I don't have access to concord grape arbors, I came up with an easier method which works very well. Here is all you have to do.

Buy seedless grapes at your local grocery store. Purple concords work the best, but white or red seedless will do fine. While your there get a bottle of 100% pure concord grape juice. This is the key, don't accidentally get grape drink as in 10% real juice or anything like that.

All you have to do to make the filling is put 2 cups of 100% grape juice in a sauce pan and add 2 cups of grapes and 1 cup of sugar. Simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes or so until it reduces a bit.

Next mix a tablespoon of corn starch with a little water in a separate cup to liquify. Slowly pour this mixture into your sauce pan while stirring until you reach the desired thickness for your filling.

At this point, taste your filling to make sure it isn't too tart. Some grapes are tarter than others, so add sugar to if needed.

Now all you have to do is add your filling to the pie crust. If you don't make your own, store bought pie crusts are actually really good these days. Just put the bottom crust in the pie pan and fill generously as much as you can get in. (a deep pie pan works the best)

Cover with top crust and make a few slits to let steam escape. For a bubbly top, brush some egg white you mixed with a tablespoon of water for a great texture and look.

That's it, bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

If you've never had grape pie before, you are in for a wonderful surprise. About 30 years ago by boss at work and I were having lunch togeter. I mentioned it was about time for grape pie. He said, what the heck is grape pie!

For a surprise I took him and his wife one a couple days later. Later that week when I came to get my pie pan back I asked his wife how they like the pie. She said. "you know, we each had a piece after dinner, and then Estel sat in the living room watching TV, and by the end of the night he had eaten the entire pie!"

If you want to try something you've probably never had, and want to make an impression at your next get together, try bringing a grape pie.

Come on back here after you've tried it, and let me know what you think.

Best wishes,
Zac