The Red Arrow Diner's "Hannah" Pie

The former Red Arrow Diner, Milford, NH

Our beloved Red Arrow, before it closed.

Some slices of Red Arrow Pie. Their Coconut Cream is on the left and Raspberry Hannah on the right.

Until a few months ago, one of our favorite things to do was to walk down to the Red Arrow Diner for late night pie. As seen in the photo the portions are huge, so our strategy was to each get a different pie and then split them so we could have both. Sadly, in December 2019 our diner abrubtly closed. There are still Red Arrow locations in Londonderry and Manchester, NH, so we could still drive to get pie if we wanted our fix. Now with the Covid-19 quarantine, we're without pie options. So for Easter this year I decided to tackle one of our favorite Red Arrow pies, the Hannah.

“The Hannah” is, as far as we can tell, exclusive to the Red Arrow Diner. It is a double-crust pie with a layer of lemon and then either a layer of blueberry or raspberry. (They’ve also had a cranberry version, but the less said about that the better.) The top crust is then covered in a layer of icing.

The pie is tart and sweet at the same time and is reminiscent of breakfast pastries. I’ve made a Hannah for the last two Easters; one blueberry and one raspberry. Since I don’t have an official recipe, mine is a bit of a work in progress to figure out the best way to go about it.

My Raspberry Hannah

My Blueberry Hannah

Here is how I made mine:

Raspberry or Blueberry Hannah

NOTE: This is a bit of a work in progress. So you may find a better method to assembling and baking the pie. If so, please do share it. The Red Arrow version appears to have a micro-thin crust between the lemon and berry layers, but I have ommitted that from my version.

Step 1. Make pie dough enough for a 9 inch double crust pie. (recipe included)

Step 2. After the dough has chilled, line a 9 inch pie pan with half the dough and par-bake the crust in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes, until it is dried out a bit. Make sure to cover the crust edge with aluminum foil to prevent this part from over cooking.

Step 3. As the bottom crust is cooking, prepare the lemon filling. You can use canned, boxed or the recipe below. (You may have extra filling with which you can make mini or hand pies later.)

Step 4. Prepare the raspberry or blueberry filling. You can use canned or use the recipe below. If you used canned, cook the filling a bit to thicken and to remove some of the tinny taste. (You may have extra filling with which you can make mini or hand pies later.)

Step 5. Once the bottom crust is out of the oven increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees.

Step 6. Fill the shell to a little over half-full with lemon filling.

Step 7. Carefully spoon the raspberry or blueberry filling on top of the lemon to fill the pie shell. You'll want to do this slowly so the berry filling doesn't sink to the bottom of the lemon.

Step 7. Roll out the top crust and place on top of the filling, adding a few air vents. (NOTE: Since you par-baked the bottom crust, the top may not stick to the bottom. I wet the edge of the bottom crust a bit to help the two layers stick together a bit.)

Step 8. Bake the pie in a 425 degree oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until the top crust is golden brown.

Step 9. Once the pie is cool, mix together enough water and confectioners sugar to make a thin icing. Drizzle this on the top crust.

Double Crust Pastry Dough

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for work surface

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes

8 tablespoons all-vegetable shortening, chilled

4-6 tablespoons ice water

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix flour, salt and sugar in bowl. Scatter butter pieces over the mixture and toss to coat. Cut butter into the flour using a pastry cutter, fork or food processor.
2. Add shortening and continue cutting until the flour is pale yellow and resembles cornmeal.
3. Sprinkle mixture with ice water, a few tablespoons at a time, and fold with a rubber spatula until mixture sticks together. Add up to two additional tablespoons of ice water if the mixture doesn't come together.
4. Divide dough into two balls, flatten and wrap each in plastic. Chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.

Lemon Pie Filling

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups cold water

6 egg yolks

1 tablespoon grated zest and 1/2 cup juice from 2 or three lemons

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt and water in a non-reactive pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly as the mixture begins to thicken.
2. When the mixture starts to simmer and turn translucent whisk in the egg yolks two at a time.
3. Add zest and then lemon juice and final whisk in butter.
4. Bring mixture to a good simmer, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat. If not filling the pie shell right away, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and to keep the mixture hot.

Berry Pie Filling

3 cups blueberries or raspberries

1/2 cup sugar

1-2 tablespoons tapioca

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Optional: 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Optional: Pinch nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix ingredients together.
2. Place in a saucepan and cook mixture until it begins to thicken slightly