# Grape Pie! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 28, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885 "2013-09-28T21:55:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/1 "2013-09-28T21:55:46Z")
Every year, for the past few dacades, I’ve made at least one grape pie. I discovered this delicacy in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Around Naples, NY you could buy grape pies at roadside stands. But nowhere else that I knew of. I learned how to make them myself from Concord Grapes, and have made them every fall. Even when I was living somewhere where consord grapes were hard to get, I’d track some down. I’ve long wanted to make grape pie from other _labrusca_ graoe varieities – there are plenty of them – Delaware, Catawba, Diamond – but Concord grapes are the only kind I ever see in stores or farm stands, and it’s hard enough to find even those, even here in New England (The Concord grape originated here, and is named after Concord, MA) A couple of years ago I was able to purchase a bag od Alden grapes from a local winery. It made an ugly-looking but delicious pie. I was too late to get any other varieties. But this year I was able to get Delaware grapes and Buffalo grapes. I never even heard of Buffalo before, but they’re a good “Table Grape”. I thought they’d make a powerfully-flavored pie, but it turned out very much like a Concord Grape pie, only with a slightly different taste. It had a gorgeous purple olor, though. The Delaware grapes were tiny, and it took forever to skin and pit them. The red-violet skins and green interiors somehow conspired to produce a yellow-orange pie, as ugfly as the Alden grape pie of two years ago. But it was delicious, and definitely differed from Concords in flavor. I gave some of it to the winery. If they post pictures online, as they said they might, I’ll link to them. We went apple picking last weekend, and Pepper Mill made an apple pie today. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/2 "2013-09-28T23:37:03Z")
I can’t find Concord grapes here! Nobody I know has them. I have a recipe from my paternal grandmother for grape pie, and I almost never get to make it, only once every couple of years. If ANYONE in NE Kansas has a source for Concord grapes, please let me know. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/3 "2013-09-28T23:52:41Z")
Love love LOVE grape pie! Damn I really need to bake more. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/4 "2013-09-29T00:20:18Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I can’t find Concord grapes here! Nobody I know has them. I have a recipe from my paternal grandmother for grape pie, and I almost never get to make it, only once every couple of years. > > If ANYONE in NE Kansas has a source for Concord grapes, please let me know. Look around and see if any of your neighbors are growing them. That’s how I got Concord grapes when I was living in Salt Lake City. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/5 "2013-09-29T00:33:21Z")
Lum! I’d never heard of it! I Googled and found [this recipe](http://allrecipes.com/recipe/concord-grape-pie-i/). It looks easy enough, even I could do it! ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/6 "2013-09-29T00:48:17Z")
I never heard of grape pie before but sounds great. I love concord grapes and can eat em’ by the handful, seeds and all. Are the pies full of seeds? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/7 "2013-09-29T02:26:22Z")
The recipe I linked has you push the pulp through a sieve to filter out (most of) the seeds. I’m with you: I just eat the seeds. (And often, bits of the stems, too. Not the whole stem network, but if there’s a half inch of stem sticking out of a grape, no biggie. Chomp.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/8 "2013-09-29T03:04:32Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I never heard of grape pie before but sounds great. I love concord grapes and can eat em’ by the handful, seeds and all. > > Are the pies full of seeds? As **Trinopus** says, you get rid of the seeds first (I always make sure I get rid of ALL the seeds). Eating grapes with seeds is OK, but eating pie with seeds is, you should pardon the expression, the pits. It can be like hitting a pothole in the road. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/9 "2013-09-30T03:45:44Z")
I started a thread some months ago asking for recipes for grape pie. Didn’t get much traction. Anyway, I’d still love to get recipes, with modifications as required for non-Concord grapes. I don’t have access to Concords - just whatever white or red seedless grapes the local store has. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/10 "2013-09-30T04:03:45Z")
If I remember correctly, the insides of Concord grapes are green/transluscent, right? When you push them through the sieve, what color is the stuff that you collect for the pie? Is it purple like grape juice or green like I’m thinking. Maybe my memory is way off though. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/11 "2013-09-30T04:24:55Z")
Never heard of grape pie, but I really want to try one now! I have no idea how it would taste. Can you give us any idea of what the taste is like? Does it reflect the grape it is made from, or does the baking change the flavor somewhat? I must have some grape pie! Not to be confused with [20 pickle pie](http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0hI_0vj3tP4), at least I hope! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/12 "2013-09-30T05:12:33Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > If I remember correctly, the insides of Concord grapes are green/transluscent, right? > > When you push them through the sieve, what color is the stuff that you collect for the pie? Is it purple like grape juice or green like I’m thinking. Maybe my memory is way off though. Greenish. It isn’t changed in color by the heating you have to do to loosen the pits in the “meat”. but when you make the pie filling, you don’t just use the interior – you save the exterior skins and mix them back in (along with some sort of thickener – flour, pectin, corn starch – and additional sugar (if needed). When you bake the pie, make sure you bake it long enough to allow the skins to start to break up. Recipews I’ve seen recommend a 45 minute baking, but I invariably have to leave it in longer (at 350 degrees), about an hour and a half. I make a lattice crust, which both looks decorative and lets me see the state of the interior. The filling should begin bubbling and producing a purple jelly-like consistency.\* \*This is the reason that the Alden Grape and Delaware Grape pies look ugly. The skins aren’t blue/purple like those of Concord or Buffalo grapes, and when they start to break down and mix with the grape interiors the resulting color is orangish or yellowish instead of purple. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/13 "2013-09-30T05:15:37Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > I started a thread some months ago asking for recipes for grape pie. Didn’t get much traction. > > Anyway, I’d still love to get recipes, with modifications as required for non-Concord grapes. I don’t have access to Concords - just whatever white or red seedless grapes the local store has. I didn’t see that. But if you’d done a search on past threads you would have come up with some of my previous threads onthe topic. Any decent-sized cookbook (like _The Joy of Cooking_) will have a recipe for Grape Pie. And there are plenty of internet sites with recipes. The ones I do use native _Labrusca_ grapes, typically Concord, but, as noted, more recently Delaware and other native American-derived varietals. I have no idea how to make a pie out of California seedless or other “table” grapes, or how they would turn out. The flavor and the consistency are completely different from Concord-type grapes. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/14 "2013-09-30T09:08:38Z")
Grape Pie- for Concord grapes- There are two sets of ingredients, for a larger and a smaller pie 6-1/4 cups grapes(4 cups) 1-1/2 cups sugar(1 cup) 5-1/2 tablespoons flour(10-1/4 teaspoons) 2-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice(1-3/4 teaspoons) pinch of salt First you slip the grapes out of their skins, reserving the skins. Place the grape pulp in a small saucepan and simmer briefly, then mash them through a sieve of some sort, to separate the seeds. Mix grape pulp, skins, sugar, flour and lemon juice and pour into a pie crust. It will seem pretty runny.I used a whole top crust that I egg washed and sprinkled with sugar. I’ve also seen suggestions for a lattice crust or a crumble topping. I baked this larger pie at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, for an hour. When it cooled I put it in the fridge to set up. It gave a nice juicy filling without being too runny. The color was grape purple after baking. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/15 "2013-09-30T11:03:46Z")
The few times I have made one recently I cheated and ran the skins in a magic bullet blender [got one for christmas a few years back, it is ok for light small tasks] into a puree then added them to the grape insides for the quick cook before straining. That got the lovely deep purple color and the straining removed any large undissolved skins. I was thinking of trying a blind baled shell and filling it with finished puree then a final quick bake with some of the large crunchy topping [sugar crystals](http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/sparkling-white-sugar-15-oz). ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/16 "2013-09-30T13:29:33Z")
Best pie ever. The recipe linked above is a tradition in my family, but we often get a bunch of funny looks when we tell folks what is for dessert. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/17 "2013-09-30T17:06:13Z")
Wow this really sounds great, and it’s cool to see you use the skins to get the grape color (hadn’t thought of that). If I can ever find any concord grapes for sale in Houston (what time of year would be best to look for them if they are ever sold here) I might try baking one of these! I love grapes and this just sounds too good. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/18 "2013-09-30T22:07:50Z")
You can mail order the pies. Let me hit google and see if I can recommend any of the piemakers from experience. Hm [Monica’s Pies](http://www.monicaspies.com/) is a familiar name, but they seem to have gone ‘big business’ so I don’t know if I would still recommend them. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grape-pie/669885/19 "2013-10-01T15:19:17Z")
This thread has been… Oh wait, it has already? Never mind then.