Living in berry country is great. Our friends, the Taylors have Saskatoon bushes out at their house on the lake and a couple weeks ago Natalie, their daughter, called to let us know that she had picked a batch of berries for us. Huzzah! Pies were to be made! We made these pies for Dad’s party, as they were another favourite of his. They were supposed to be straight Saskatoon berry pies but we realized that we didn’t have enough Saskatoons. So they were going to be Saskatoon and blueberry pies… but when Kellie and I got to baking we realized we didn’t even have enough of those two combined… so we frantically looked around the kitchen and assessed the fruit situation. We had oranges, bananas, five measly plums, and two apples. Huzzah! We quickly dismissed the bananas and oranges (whew) and started cutting up the rest of the fruit. We ended up with enough Saskatoon and blueberry filling to fill the first pie, I scooped out four scoop of that filling to round out the Saskatoon Blueberry Plum and Apple Pie. Both were huge successes and Mom really couldn’t tell the difference in them, the Saskatoons really took over the flavour profile perfectly. Enjoy!

Saskatoon Pie with variations

INGREDIENTS

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Klondike Pastry (makes enough for the crust and tops of two pies)

• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 lb (2 cups) shortening
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 3/4 cup cold water

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Saskatoon and Blueberry Pie (makes one 9-inch pie)

• 7 cups fresh or frozen Saskatoon berries
• 1 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

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Saskatoon, Blueberry, Apple, and Plum Pie (yes, it is many things) (makes one 9-inch pie)

• 1 cup fresh or frozen Saskatoon berries
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 2 apples, sliced and chopped
• 4-5 small plums, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1  cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1. Heat oven to 425°F.
2. Prepare your Klondike Pastry:
   • In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, baking powder, and brown sugar. Cut in your shortening until you have pea-sized bits throughout.
   • In a small bowl, whisk together your egg, vinegar, and cold water.
   • Pour your egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix only until a dough forms, don’t over mix. Split dough in half, roll out each half to desired thickness, lay into your pie plate, press lightly to fill and cut around the edges. Re-roll left over dough to form the top. Cut a shape out of the top layer before laying it onto the fruit mixture.
3. Onto the fruit! In a large saucepan, simmer berries (and apple and plums, if doing that version) with the water for 15 minutes.
4. Stir the lemon juice into the fruit mixture, allow to cook for another 5 minutes.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and sugar, stir into the berry mixture.
6. Pour the filling into your pie crusts. Place the top layer over the pie, pinch to seal the edges. If desired, use a pastry brush to brush the top with some milk and sprinkle with sugar.
7. Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F  and bake for an additional 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Delicious berry filling (pre-realization that we needed WAY MORE FILLING)

The first pie, gloriously filled.

The second pie, the four-fruit filling pie.

This Saskatoon berry shape is old and well used.

Pre-baking.

Post-baking.