Red Currant Pie (Or is It Cake?)

Lise in Indiana's Note:

While visiting my daughter in Germany, we were given a basketful of fresh red currants, a sweet-tart berry, and tried this recipe on a whim. It was wonderful! The currants kept their fresh flavor and the pie/cake was a perfect base. Back home, I'm going to try the same recipe with fresh strawberries, then fresh blueberries, then fresh raspberries...

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

For Crust

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, grated

For Filling

• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 1/4 cups red currants (or other fresh berries)

Directions:

1. For Crust: In a medium bowl, sift together flour and baking powder.
2. Mix in butter, sugar, egg yolks and lemon zest until mixture forms dough.
3. Pat the dough evenly into the bottom of a 9" springform pan.
4. Chill dough in pan for 25-30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
6. Bake in oven for 25 minutes, or until golden.
7. For Filling: In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.
8. Gradually stir in sugar and cornstarch; beat for 5 minutes.
9. Fold currants into mixture and pour into warm crust.
10. Bake in oven for 10 minutes, or until top is lightly browned.
11. Cool completely before serving.

Reviews

[chrissiequilter]

deeeeeeeeeeeelicious!! just the right balance of tart and sweet. this one is definitely a keeper!

[Starsa]

This is very yummy and colorful. I used frozen which I thawed and it added a link pink hue to the meringue. Also didn't have lemon so used zest from pink grapefruit. Mmm mmm good! Thanks

[Ceezie]

This was great! The bottom is like a cookie with a meringe topping. The berries are cooked just enough so that they kind of pop in your mouth when you take a bite. The only change I made was I used black currants and blueberries.