Red Raspberry Custard Pie with Vanilla Crumb Crust

Last weekend I bought a vintage cookbook titled Good Housekeeping’s Party Pie Book for .25 cents.  What a buy!  The book was copyrighted in 1958 and the condition of the book would imply that it was used frequently.  I always consider wear and tear  a sign of a good book.

Just purchasing the book encouraged me to make a pie.   I  made an Old-Fashioned Blueberry Custard Pie last summer and I loved everything about it.   I decided since that was such a hit I’d make a red raspberry custard pie this time around.

I picked a pie crust recipe out of the Good Housekeeping’s Party Pie Book and the custard recipe is from Food.com.

Vanilla Crumb Crust:

Makes one 9” crust

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1 1/3 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

1/4 c. margarine or butter, softened

In small bowl, add vanilla wafer crumbs and margarine.  Mix with a fork until well blended.  Press into pie plate with a spoon, or by hand.

Bake for 8 minutes.  Cool prior to using.

Raspberry Custard Pie Filling:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2 c. raspberries, fresh or frozen

1 c. sugar

1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 c. evaporated milk

3 large eggs, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 pinch of nutmeg

1 pinch of cinnamon

Place berries in the bottom of  the crust; set aside.  In medium bowl, mix flour and sugar.  Gradually add milk; stir until smooth.  Whisk in eggs, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon.  Pour into pie crust covering berries.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for additional 35 minutes, or until knife comes out clean when inserted into the center of the pie.

I have made the custard filling once with evaporated milk, and once with skim milk, and I did notice a difference between the two.  I think the skim milk separated a bit more, where the evaporated did not.  I actually liked the flavor of the custard made with the skim  better than the evaporated milk.  The next time I make  a custard pie I will use a half of cup of each and see if it balances everything out.  One other  recommendation;  use a pie crust shield around the edge of the crust to prevent over browning. 

I’m sold on custard with fruit pies.  They are so tasty and simple to make. 

I recently won a Cuisinart stick blender with a chopper attachment in a cool recipe contest hosted by  BeBetsy.com.  I used the chopper to grind up the vanilla wafers for this pie crust.  It was so powerful and really got the job done.  I guess that gives me an excuse to make more pies – doesn’t it?

Sharing this delicious pie over at Tidy Mom’s – I’m Lovin it Friday’s!  Check out all of the great entries posted there.