I really cannot believe how we are halfway through 2014. I mean, it`s going to be the 4th of July in a few weeks! I totally have a pie for you to make for the celebration. ;)
I love eating pies. Yet, I`ve never made a berry pie. I make a lot, and I mean, a lot of apple pies. Never, berry pies. Well, except these raspberry banana nutella hand pies eons ago. It was one of those really simple recipes, so I used raspberry jam, instead of fresh fruits.
My family, for some odd reason, likes to buy a lot of stuff in bulk. Especially when there`s a sale. Well, there was a sale on strawberries, so my parents bought 4lbs of strawberries. FOUR!! I was so excited to bake with all of them. But, they`re in season and so juicy, we kept eating them as snacks! I was afraid I wouldn`t have enough to make this pie, but then my dad came home with 4 more pounds of strawberries...haha!
I love custard. I love strawberries and raspberries. So, when I ran across a berry custard pie recipe, I was completely smitten with the idea. And, rightfully so. This pie was wonderful. The pastry crust was amazing. A side note: I suck at making pie crust and rolling them out...so please don`t judge my terrible pie crust skills. I`m sure you can do better. ;) There`s two layers to this pie: the custard layer and the berry filling. Everything blends together to form a delicious pie.
As you can see from the picture above,you`ll spot the custard peeking out from underneath the strawberry and raspberry filling. It`s a beautiful pie, right?! Especially, if you can roll a pie crust correctly and make a pretty lattice to top everything off! Even if you`re like me, and do not possess any pie crust skills whatsoever, the pie will still look pretty.
This pie does require an extra step, compared to your other fruit pies, since you have to also make the custard. Don`t fear, custard isn`t hard to make! Plus, the red berry filling takes like 2 minutes to make.
You can eat this pie warm, but I prefer it to be chilled, so the berry filling doesn`t go all over the place. (See picture below for reference. Haha.) The pie holds up much better after it`s been chilled in the fridge, or at least, completely cooled.
Red Berry Custard Pie
Adapted: Butter| Yields: 1 - 9
inch pie | Level: Medium | Total Time: 2
hours+ chilling time | Print
Ingredients:
Pastry Crust:
-
3 cups all purpose flour
-
½ cup granulated sugar
-
1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
-
2 egg yolks
-
4 tablespoons water, cold
-
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Custard:
-
1 ¼ cup whole milk
-
¼ cup granulated sugar
-
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
-
2 teaspoon cornstarch
-
¼ teaspoon salt
-
4 large egg yolks
-
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Red Berry Filling:
-
1 lb strawberries and raspberries
-
¼ cup granulated sugar
-
2 tablespoons cornstarch
-
¼ teaspoon salt
Directions:
Crust:
1.
In a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, and butter.
2.
Mix in the egg yolks, water, and vanilla. Combine until dough comes
together.
3.
Remove one third of the dough. Flatten it slightly and cover it with
saran/plastic wrap (this is your top
crust). Do the same with the remaining dough (bottom crust). Refrigerate for at least one hour to chill the
dough.
Custard:
4.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt.
5.
In a small-medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks and vanilla.
6.
Whisk the flour mixture into the egg yolks mixture until it becomes
thick.
7.
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk until small bubbles form around the
edges (not boiling).
8.
While whisking the egg mixture constantly, pour about half the milk into
the eggs. When it's uniformly mixed, pour everything back into the saucepan,
whisking the milk constantly.
9.
Continue whisking until custard thickens and comes to a boil.
10.
When the custard is starting to boil, whisk very quickly for about 10
seconds. Then, remove from heat.
11.
If desired, push the custard through a fine mesh sieve to remove any
clumps.
12.
Transfer custard into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap touching the
surface of the custard and chill in fridge for at least 4 hours.
Filling:
13.
In a bowl, combine the strawberries, raspberries, sugar, cornstarch and
salt. Toss berries around to coat everything.
14.
When you're ready to bake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease your pie
pan well.
15.
With your crust dough, roll out your dough on a clean and lightly
floured work surface. Transfer onto your pie pan.
16.
Spread your custard on top of your crust.
17.
Add the berry filling on top.
18.
Roll out your top crust dough on lightly floured surface. Cut into
strips. Layer on top of pie into desired design. For lattice, you can follow
directions here.
19.
Fold over any crust overhang and pinch the edges of the crust together.
20.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until pie is golden brown. Let pie cool down
completely before cutting to serve. Best served chilled.
*Notes:
-
The pie taste great both warm or chilled. Personally, I thought the pie
tasted best cold, from the fridge.
-
I made the crust and filling the day before and kept them in the fridge
until I was ready to bake.
