Mini Grape Pie

Yesterday I promised to blog about my grape pie. Many of you seemed to be intrigued by this idea, so I'm more than happy to share this story with you.

Like many of my culinary creations, this "recipe" came about because something else has failed: the dough for the hamentashen that I originally set out to make last Tuesday wasn't holding together. I was only able to make 4 of them and did not know what to make with the remaining dough.

That's when I decided to make a Mini Grape Pie. How did I come up with this? I decided to use the grapes because while testing one of Robyn's recipes for broiled pork & grape skewers, I've discovered how amazing grapes become once they are heated. They turn so much sweeter and literally burst once you bite into them.

I used one of my newest rectangular mini dishes from Crate & Barrel, which is luckily oven-safe to make this Mini Grape Pie.

Ingredients for the dough (adopted from Rivka's recipe)
1/3 cup butter at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 egg (I took an entire egg, whisked it with a fork and then used 1/2 of the mixture)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest 
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt
1-1.5 cups flour
a bunch of red seedless grapes

(click on the image for better view!)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Cream the sugar and butter for a minute.
3. Add egg, lemon zest and vanilla. Mix together.
4. Combine dry ingredients and incorporate into the wet ingredients.
5. Once the dough is holding together, make it into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. Spray your baking container with oil spray (or use butter). Using 1/2 of the dough make the bottom part of the pie: I simply molded the dough to fit the shape of my dish using my fingers.
7. Put enough grapes on top of the dough to cover it.
8. Cover the grapes with the second half of the dough. Make a few slits. Bake for 20-30 minutes till golden brown.
You know what? This came out really tasty! I had it the next morning for breakfast (re-heated in the microwave) and even my friend Laura at work liked it! If only I had some vanilla ice cream....
Note that this recipe makes 1 mini pie (about 7 x 4 inches). You can double or triple the recipe to make a larger one.
Was this worth the wait?
What cooking creations have you come up with after your original idea has failed?