Currants and gooseberries are the best for pies when of a full growth,
just before they begin to turn red--they are tolerably good when ripe.
Currants mixed with ripe raspberries or mulberries, make very nice pies.
Green currants and gooseberries for pies are not apt to be sweet enough
without the sugar is scalded in before they are baked, as the juice of
the currants is apt to run out while they are baking, and leave the
fruit dry. Stew them on a moderate fire, with a tea-cup of water to a
couple of quarts of currants--as soon as they begin to break, add the
sugar, and let it scald in a few minutes. When baked without stewing,
put to each layer of fruit a thick layer of sugar. There should be as
much as a quarter of a pound of sugar to a pint of currants, to make
them sufficiently sweet. Green currant pies are good sweetened with
molasses and sugar mixed.