I enjoy baking for people their favorite pies, especially on their birthddays.

I asked a dear friend whose birthday is this month what her favorite pie was. She closed her eyes, smiled, and said, “yummmm, apricot pie!”

I’d never made an apricot pie before, but I certainly have made a million and a half fruit other pies and cobblers! So, I started the search for fresh apricots; they’re not to be found in May. Second best are frozen; none were in the frozen aisle either. Next, I searched for canned apricots; none in any store. So, I settled on dried.

How on earth do I make a pie out of dried fruit?!? I began experimenting in my head how this was going to work: rehydrate, less sugar, add lemon juice, zest too, and the mental adjustments continued. The experiment began and this is how it went:

1. Mix 1/2 cup sugar with 3 T cornstarch.

2. Add to 26 oz of dried apricots.

2. Cover dried apricot mixture with water (about 3 cups), 2 T lemon juice, and zest of one lemon in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil till thickened.

3. Sprinkle with about 2 tsp of cinnamon.

4. Add 4 T butter.

5. Using a hand held potato masher, mash hot apricot mixture into desired size pieces of  fruit.

6. Make enough pie dough for a two crust pie. I make my own (see in blog listings), but you can use the ready prepared pillsbury pie sheets.

7. Fill bottom crust with prepared fruit mixture. Dot with extra butter. Cover with top layer of dough, crimp edges, vent top, and bake at 375 till golden.

8. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

How did it turn out? She loved it and that’s all that matters.

What’s your favorite pie? Let me know, and Ill bake you one!