Raspberry Pie

Pi day is upon us and with spring just around the corner, Raspberry Pie is the perfect way to celebrate! I whipped up two raspberry pies in just a few minutes today and they magically disappeared in a few hours.

We have a favorite place in town to get pie ( I use the term “we” loosely) it’s mostly me. Grant will eat pie almost anywhere. Gas station pies, Village Inn, the grocery store. He’s easy to please. I’m a little more choosey when it comes to  pie. The pies at Left Fork Grill in SLC are home made. Finding restaurants where homemade pie is made are few and far between.  One of my favorite pies at Left Fork Grill is the Raspberry Cream pie. It is heavenly! Just the right amount of tart and sweet and a layer of raspberry filling, topped with fresh whipped cream. Oh my.

The art of making pie

Making pie is a lost art. If you’ve been following ABK for any amount of time, you know I am obsessed with pie. And making pie. And eating pie. And Thanksgiving….I’ll stop now, since Thanksgiving is still 9 months away, but it is seriously my favorite time of the year. Search “Thanksgiving”  or “pie” on the right column and you’ll get the picture. In all of my pie making adventures, I’ve never made a Raspberry Pie, so I decided it was time.

Fresh vs frozen berries and a pantry friendly Raspberry Pie

I experimented with frozen raspberries, since fresh raspberries are not easily found this time of year, but fresh will work in this recipe as well. I will say that my recipe for Bountiful Blueberry Pie calls for fresh or frozen blueberries and I like the way it turns out a bit better using frozen blueberries. I suspect it will be the same with this pie. I’ll report back and let you know when raspberries are in season!

This Raspberry Pie is really easy to make. The recipe uses just a few simple ingredients you probably have in your pantry.  Sugar, cornstarch, water,  a dash of salt, a little butter… Add a few raspberries, and you have the best raspberry pie. In the universe. Oh, and don’t forget the whipped cream.

Research…

After doing a little research, and eating several slices of Left Fork Grill’s Raspberry Cream Pie, I knew I wanted to try to recreate a similar pie at home. It tastes like tart raspberries and a bit of jam all poured into a traditional pie crust and topped with sweetened whipped cream. If there is pie in heaven, I’m pretty sure this pie is served. I tried making this pie two ways. The first was to use 5 cups of frozen raspberries, the second 4 cups of berries. The recipe using 5 cups was a bit more tart, and the filling didn’t set up quite as well as the pie with 4 cups of raspberries. Overall, I liked the flavor a bit better in the 5 cup filling. The pie made with 4 cups of fruit set up more firm and tasted a bit sweeter. Unless you eat the pies side by side, it is difficult to taste the difference.  After setting up for several hours the 5 cup Raspberry Pie  set up quite nicely, and was my favorite.

Cornstarch vs tapioca

I used cornstarch as a thickener for this pie. I thought about using tapioca, but sometimes tapioca doesn’t break down enough when the fruit is not cooked in the oven, and I didn’t want to cook the raspberries in the pie shell. I made my own pie crust and then blind baked the crust, let it cool and filled it with the cooled raspberry pie filling.  I know many people use Jello to thicken their fruit pies, but I’m not a huge fan of Jello and don’t like the added color and flavors. I use a bit of jam to thicken my Fresh Strawberry Pie and it’s our family favorite! Overall, I’m partial to using cornstarch or tapioca to thicken fruit pies, unless it’s apple pie, and then I always use flour.

pie crust. the end.

I’m a firm believer in making my own crust. It takes 10 minutes to make and shape a single crust at most! Don’t be intimidated by crust making. Take a look at this post for a step by step tutorial. You can do this! If you make your own crust, here’s a tip- freeze the crust in the plate (just like pictured above) for 30-45 minutes, and then bake on the bottom of your oven (lowest shelf) for 7-9 minutes at 500 degrees. Make sure to preheat the oven for at least 15 minutes.  No shrinkage guarantee. I’ve also included a simple Oreo cookie crust in the note section of the recipe!

I know you’re going to love this recipe. It’s perfect for any time of the year. Holiday time, summer, Valentine’s Day, Pi day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, 4th of July… Happy baking.

Raspberry Pie

5 from 9 votes

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Author: Si Foster

Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients 

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• dash of salt
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 4-5 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 tablespoon butter, no margarine
• 1 single pie crust, baked and cooled

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Instructions

• Pour the water, sugar salt and cornstarch into a medium size saucepan and whisk together until smooth and no lumps appear.
• Turn the heat to medium high and add 1 cup of raspberries.
• Bring the mixture to a boil. Stir the mixture so the berries do not burn.
• Boil for one minute. The mixture should thick. Taste to make sure the cornstarch is cooked and does not taste pasty.
• Remove from heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and stir until mixed in.
• Place the remaining 3-4 cups of berries in a medium size bowl. Pour the cooked mixture over the berries in the bowl. Gently fold together.
• Set in refrigerator until cooled, about 30 minutes.
• Pour the mixture into a cooked and cooled pie shell and let sit for 3-6 hours.
• Top with sweetened whipped cream and serve the same day. Store any leftovers in fridge.

Notes

– If you’d like to to use an Oreo Crust, Crush 1/2 package of Oreos, 4 tablespoons melted butter, 1 tablespoon sugar. Pulse until smooth in blender or food processor. Press the crumbs into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely and fill!-I purchase large bags of frozen raspberries at Costco (SLC on 300 west) they come in a bag with about 18 cups per bag and are quite a bit less expensive than small bags of frozen berries at grocery stores.