Connie’s Gramma Pie & Country johnnies
There aren’t too many people in the Clarence Valley who don’t know Connie de Dassel.
Big call, I know. But it’s true. She really is an icon and it’s no exaggeration when I say she is truly loved by all who meet her. So it was a no brainer to feature her.
I have spent thousands of hours singing behind Connie as she so gracefully played the piano. I have the perfect image of her in my head as she ever so slightly sways to the music. Her fingers dancing up and down the piano as she turns the page faster than you can imagine. She is the kind of music teacher who would tell you that you did an amazing job even though you forgot every second line in a song. She is warm and she is beautiful. She is an icon.
I smile when I see Connie teaching young musicians because I know they will have a special person in their life forever.
She is Connie de Dassel, and here are her recipes.
Connie’s Gramma Pie & Country Johnnies
Today I have chosen to feature two recipes from Connie because I just couldn’t choose which one! They are both utterly delicious! The Gramma pie is divine and somehow creamy. I’m not a great baker so I was a little nervous about making a pie crust. In my head I imagined it going soggy or not cooking properly or falling apart when I cut it, but it turned out perfectly and the country Johnnies are so good, I maaay have eaten 6 before I could photograph them! I know both of these recipes will be crowd pleasers.
GRAMMA PIE
Ingredients
Pie filling:
· 10 cups of gramma
· 2 cups of sugar
· 4 tablespoons of mixed spice
· 1 ½ tablespoon of citric acid (or tartaric acid)
Pastry:
2 cups of self-rising flour
2 tablespoons of butter
Water to mix
Pinch of salt
Method
Preheat oven to 175 degrees
Cook gramma in boiling water until soft and remove as much excess water as possible.
Add sugar and spices to achieve the desired taste.
Mix very well.
For the pastry, combine flour, salt, butter, and water and roll out onto a floured board.
A full pie will have the pastry in the flan and then add the gramma mixture covering it to finish.
Alternatively, the gramma can be placed in the flan first then covered with pastry to complete.
Once this has been assembled, cook in the oven until golden brown.
Julia’s tips.
I could only find part of a gramma pumpkin so Connie suggested that you could use butternut pumpkin instead. For this recipe, I used 4 cups of gramma and the remaining 6 cups were butternut and it was delicious!
cOUNTRY jOHNNIES
Ingredients
120grams sugar
180grams butter
2 eggs
480grams plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon lemon essence
2 cups currants
Half a cup mixed peel (optional)
Method
Combine butter and sugar until the color lightens.
Add eggs and essences,
Fold in fruit.
Add the sifted flour and baking powder.
Roll out onto floured board and cut into round shapes.
Cook in moderate oven until evenly brown.
