Based on Dundee Arms Inn Bumbleberry Pie, as printed in the Sun Sentinel Broward Edition, 24 Aug 2016.1 I made some minor changes. The ORIGINAL (Dundee Arms) recipe is indicated in red footnotes.
Ken Haedrich includes this pie from a Prince Edward Island inn in his book “Pie.” That recipe includes fresh rhubarb and strawberries (1 cup each, sliced), but we chose to use all berries, adding blackberries and increasing the amounts of other berries ↩
Raisin pie was called “funeral pie” by some people. My mother-in-law, who grew up near Pittsburgh from the 1920’s, was the only person I could find who knew about this alternate name. In fact, her source was having seen it in an old cook book. In researching the matter further I discovered the Old Order Mennonites and Amish (and probably others) applied the description “funeral pie” to raisin pie. It seems the ingregients required for this simple pie were non-seasonal and usually on hand. So a pie could be whipped up on short notice, should a friend or relative pass away without giving any advance notice. The pie could also remain out, without refrigeration, as visitors visited the home of the mourning family during the course of the day. I found one source who claimed raisin pie / funeral pie does not need to be refrigerated. I’ve never tested this claim, and don’t think it merits a test. Common sense suggests raisin pie might withstand a day without refrigeration better than other types of pie — but leaving a pie out on the counter indefinitely is asking for trouble, not to mention insects.
The black appearance of raisin pie filling also matches the somber mood of the typical funeral.
This recipe replaces the raisin pie recipe posted on April 18, 2010, which is identical except for the addition of this footnote.
Most people will not guess this is carrot pie–it passes as a pretty good pumpkin pie. The recipe is for a 8 or 9 inch pie pan, but you will have MORE than enough.
Ingredients
3 cups (1.25 lbs.) of raw, peeled carrots
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
Instructions Carrot Pie
Peel the carrots. Cut into small pieces.
Put the carrots in a pan of water (enough to cover the carrots and provide a little room for them to swim around). Bring the water to a boil. Reduce heat and cook on a low boil/simmer for 20 minutes. Alternatively, you can steam the carrots to preserve more of the nutrients
Puree the cooked carrots. A blender on a high setting works well (see my comment below). Apparently a food processor works well too. You could try hand crushing with a potato masher, or hand mixer, but I’m not sure you would be able to achieve the silky smooth texture you are looking for. TIP: I wasn’t able to really puree the carrots alone, so I added the can of evaporated milk to the carrots, while still in the blender.
Make the pie crust. For obvious reasons, the hand made pie crust is greatly preferred (see my comment below).
Mix the rest of the pie contents thoroughly, using a hand mixer or a spatula/spoon with a lot of effort.
Pour the mixture into a pie pan. You will have plenty to fill it to the brim, and probably some left over. Feel free to use the leftover mixture in a second, smaller, pie or “crustless” pie.
Bake at 400 F for the first 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 F, and bake for another 45 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. The center of the pie may puff up quite a bit during baking. It should settle back down as the pie cools.
Serve warm, or refrigerate until you are ready to eat.
Culinary Tradition
USA (traditional) My Rating (out of 5 stars) ★★★★★
COMMENTS:
I prefer to use the “old school” methods and equipment, when possible. However, a food processor or blender seems necessary to achieve the silky smooth texture we are looking for. Crushing the carrots by hand probably will not yield the same results.
If you are going to the trouble of making this recipe, rather than using the pumpkin pie filling from a can or (gasp) buying a frozen pie, then you owe it to yourself and your family to make the pie crust. It’s not that difficult.
Some people might compare this recipe to the Sweet Potato Pie (another one of my favorites), found at http://k-line.org/9/2010/03/16/sweet-potato-pie/. While the look is similar, most people won’t confuse the taste of Sweet Potato Pie with Carrot Pie or Pumpkin Pie.
