Beth09: I don't believe I've ever made a gooseberry pie, but I can give you a recipe from my very reliable BH&G red check cookbook if you want. I don't believe I've ever had a bad recipe from that cookbook.

Well thank you lizbeth, I would appreciate that! :)

I have not made a gooseberry pie in quite awhile, even though my daughter has gooseberry bushes. I will have to get some from her, probably has some in her freezer. Anyway, they are basically made like most berry pies. When fully ripe they turn a pretty rose pink color, but most are picked in the green stage. I think the rosier they are the sweeter they might be. I just might make one to go along with our pumpkin and black raspberry pie for Christmas.

Sue

Sue, that's just it, I've never made any berry pie. They are my least favorite.

These berries are mostly green, though some have a light blush to them. The lady that gave them to me said they would need a couple cups of sugar. That sounded like a crazy amount, but when I went recipe looking, I found them calling for anywhere from 1-3 cups. That's why I ended up here, I just had no idea which one to pick.

Thanks, from your neighbor in southern IL. :)

I just had a piece of gooseberry pie at our Kiwanis chili feed for lunch -- yum!

I've only had gooseberry jam. My grandmother had them growing on her property in rural Ohio back in the 50's.

Sorry for being so late in getting back. I actually ran onto my MIL's recipe and she did make a good one. It's also the same as my BH&G cookbook.

Fresh Gooseberry Pie

3 cups fresh gooseberries

1 &1/2 cups sugar

3 Tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pastry for two crust 9-inch pie

2 Tablespoons butter

Crush 1/2 cup of gooseberries; combine with sugar, tapioca and salt. Add the whole berries. Cook and stir until mixture thickens. Line 9-inch pie plate with pastry; fill. Dot with butter ( cut in several pieces). Adjust top crust.

Bake in very hot oven (450 degrees) for 10 minutes.; reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake about 30 minutes longer or till crust is done.

Good luck and do let us know how it turns out.

Edited to add: I just want to add that I think some people go overboard with sugar because gooseberries are naturally sour. I think the above amount makes a tasty pie; I find the overly sweet gooseberry pies distasteful. JMHO

IMHO gooseberries are an acquired taste. Use more sugar rather than less, and my mother likes to mix in other berries to help the taste, such as tayberry or blackberry. Good luck!

lizbeth, my berries are frozen. Do you think it will work out ok if I just thaw them and proceed? And thank you!

The berries will probably have liquid if they thaw. I would probably get everything ready then take out of freezer and proceed while they are still frozen. The only problem I could foresee is too much liquid; then you would just use more tapioca to thicken.

Ok, thank you.

Yes, my Mom uses berries straight from freezer, may take a little longer to cook.

I put my frozen berries in a glass bowl and microwave a bit to warm them up, then pour in the sugar and the thickener, I usually use flour but whatever, mix up and put in crusts. Takes around an hour at 400 degrees, just have to watch it and see when it bubbles up nicely. Let us know when you bake and how it turns out, neighbor!

Sue

Will do Sue!

I have gooseberry bushes, I planted them for Dad when he was still alive because Grandpa had gooseberry bushes. We used to sneak them when we were small and Grandpa would pretend he was yelling at us to leave his gooseberries alone. Grandma made pie and jam from them, I like to just eat them, but I spent a lot of time "tipping and tailing" them, they had a stem on one end and a "thorn" on the other. The bushes had thorns too.

I have two varieties of berries. One is green when ripe, one is red/purple. When they are underripe they are so sour they can pucker you right up, when they are fully ripe they are sweeter, but still rather sour.

Gooseberry Pie (Farm Journal)
Recipe By :Farm Journal's Best-Ever Pies (Patricia A. Ward)

3 cups gooseberries -- fresh
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons tapioca -- quick cooking
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
milk
1 pie crust (9 inch)

Crush 3/4 cup of the gooseberries. Combine sugar, tapioca, salt and crushed berries in 3-quart saucepan. Stir in remaining berries. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat. Pour mixture into pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with butter. Place top crust over filling and seal and flute edges. Brush crust with milk.
Bake at 425 F. for 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.
Cool on rack.

I also have a gooseberry meringue pie, but I've not made it. Grandma used to make it occasionally, but it was more "fussy" and so we mostly had the one above

.Gooseberry Meringue Pie
Recipe By :Cookbook USA

2 cups gooseberries
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (9-inch) baked pastry shell
2 egg whites -- beaten stiff
4 tablespoons sugar

Cook gooseberries in water until tender. Mix 1 cup sugar, flour and salt; add to gooseberries, cook until thick; cool; pour into baked shell. Spread with meringue made of egg whites and sugar. Bake in 350 degree oven 12 to 15 minutes.

Have fun!

Annie

We used to sneak them when we were small and Grandpa would pretend he was yelling at us to leave his gooseberries alone.

This made me laugh out loud. What a sweet memory! ;)

Thanks for the recipes. :)

You are more than welcome, Beth. Grandpa was hard as steel on the outside, with a marshmallow middle, LOL. We'd pretend we were scared and run away and he'd lure us back with cold pancakes, spread with fresh butter and sprinkled with sugar. We loved them, for some reason, I can't even imagine eating that today, LOL.

Annie

lol at luring you back with cold pancakes. Doesn't sound real appetizing, I agree. Must of been all the love that came with them. ;)

Fresh butter <-------- YUM!

I have to tell you a sorta funny story. My father was nearly 84 with serious respiratory problems. He'd been in the hospital for 2 weeks and was being fed with a feeding tube due to excess mucus. When they finally removed the tube, he complained about the hospital food and asked my mother to go bring him some dinner from his favorite cafeteria in town. And his final request was, "If they have any of that fine gooseberry pie, bring me a piece as well". My mother went and got him his dinner and fed it to him. He ate it with great vigor - my father DID love his food.

Very early the next morning, my mother got a call from the hospital that he'd taken a turn for the worse and she should get there quickly. My cousin lived down the street and drove her - hospital was only a few blocks away. He died a few hours later.

When I called a cousin to tell her, her immediate reaction was, "Well, it must have been the gooseberry pie that killed him - it could kill anyone!" I don't know if it did or not, but he sure enjoyed his last meal!

Oh my gosh Anglo, that's hysterical! In a morbid sorta way.... ;) Thanks for sharing!

Anglo, my grandpa loved gooseberry pie, I could see him eating it as his last meal. It's sad that your father died, of course, but at least he got a good meal with dessert that he liked, instead of the hospital stuff.

My Grandpa used to eat pie for breakfast whenever he could, he said it wasn't really different than having toast and jelly. He was right, I guess...

Annie

It's definitely no different than donuts, coffee cake, etc.