Pie Crazy–Red Raspberry Pie Filling

I use to think that cupcakes were the rave.   They are cute and tasty, and you can make just about any flavor imaginable, but truthfully, my new rave is homemade pie.  Pies offer a sense of nostalgia for me.  My grandmother and mother made them often, and made them well.

I have actually discovered the more pies you make, the more efficient you become at making them. What once seemed like a dreaded chore, now seems like a – piece of pie.

And how about the cost of buying a pie these days.  Whoa… Hold on to your wallets folks!  They certainly aren’t cheap.  So, why not make your own?

I searched the archives here at The Joy of Caking and found I’ve made and shared quite a few pies with you.  I guess maybe my new rave isn’t so new after all.  Here is the list I came up with.

Farm Country Peach

Vanilla Cream Pie. 

Custard Pie

Red Raspberry Custard Pie with Vanilla Crumb Crust

Old-Fashioned Blueberry Custard Pie

Mini Apple Pies

Homemade Apple Pie 

Lemon Meringue Pie 

Guilt Free Mini Pies

Icebox Banana Chocolate Pie

I see I’ve still have a lot of pies flavors yet to go, and that’s just fine with me.

This red raspberry pie filling is about as raspberry as you’re going to get.  I used berries that I had frozen from our own raspberry bushes. I’d say the filling leans toward the tart side.  If you prefer a more sweet filling bump up the sugar by 1/4 cup.

  

Raspberry Pie Filling

2 tbsp. corn starch

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

a dash of salt

1 c. granulated sugar

2 pints of fresh, or frozen red raspberries

3 tbsp. margarine

prepared double  pie crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix corn starch, flour, salt, and sugar.  Blend all ingredients until thoroughly mixed.  Pour sugar mixture over berries and fold lightly until berries are completely covered.  Pour into prepared bottom pie crust, dot with margarine, and cover with top crust. 

Follow the instructions for baking the pie according to your pie crust recipe.

What do you think?  Is pie the new rave, or is it just me?

 

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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.