"Sour Cream Pie with Raisins" by Senator Alan Bible

I’ll be honest — when I heard “sour cream” with “raisins” with “pie,” I was… completely in love. What’s not to admire about the bold combination of sweet raisins and fermented cow cream? I first saw the recipe in my treasured South Dakota Centennial Cookbook 1989 — it’s apparently a delicacy in the Dakotas. This recipe, however, is coming from all the way back in the 1960s, from a senator lost to history except for a brief mention by Bryan Cranston in All the Way: Senator Alan Bible’s Sour Cream Pie with Raisins.

Chef Alan Bible

Democratic Senator from Nevada

As always, I followed the recipe word for word from the beloved conservationist senator, no alterations:

INGREDIENTS

1.5 cups sour cream

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

4 round tbsp flour

1/2 cup chopped raisins

1 tsp vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Scald 1 cup of sour cream in a double boiler.

Scalding is actually a technique, not just a term that people use when they describe hot sidewalks (“that sidewalk is scalding hot, put shoes on your dog”). It refers to the heating of a dairy product (milk, cream, etc.) to the point where bubbles form around the edges, but does not go into a full-on boil.

2) Mix sugar, flour, spices and beaten egg yolk and remaining 1/2 cup of sour cream. Cook 15 minutes slowly or it will curdle.

If you’ve ever had a whole glass of curdled milk, you know how important it is to make sure this cream doesn’t get there. I stirred constantly to avoid tasting that ever again. And don’t discard those egg whites — Alan’s not done with them yet.

3) Add vanilla and raisins.

You’ll think that perhaps you’re adding too many raisins, but this is not true.

4) When partially cooled, pour into baked pie shell and cover with meringue (egg whites beaten stiff with about 2 tbsp of sugar folded in).

I love when a recipe throws in a surprise — meringue! Remember when I said don’t throw away those egg whites? Well, I made an omelet with mine before meringue-time, so I had to crack two more open. In my experience, it’s always fun to surprise people in your recipe, but it tends to lead to mistakes and malice.

5) Brown in hot oven 10-15 minutes. When cool, can be refrigerated for days.

Bible didn’t tell me exactly how hot it should be, so I went with 400 degrees for 13 minutes, keeping an eye out for that sweet, sweet brown. You don’t want to burn a delicate meringue and ruin all the hard work you’ve done with raisins to this point. And voila! The Sour Cream Pie with Raisins. I bet you’ve never tasted anything quite like this. It takes me back to a time that I never actually lived in; the end of the Great Depression, World War II, maybe the Dust Bowl… The pie is hearty, just like its creator, Alan Bible, and I’ll tell you, if you’ve ever wanted a thick block of sweet Raisin Bran topped with a marshmallow, you may have finally found peace in this world.

Verdict:

This dish hinges on whether you like raisins. If you’re the kind of person who won’t eat a chocolate chip cookie that has raisins in it, this will hurt your feelings. Me? I was actually okay with the dried-grape-sludge.