Summer is just about over but there’s still time for one more berry dessert in my opinion!
Raspberries are by far my favorite berry, and I was overjoyed the other day when I saw cartons of them on sale for $1.99 at my local grocery store. At first I thought about just buying a few cartons to have around the house for snacks all week but then I remembered I hadn’t yet made a fruit pie this year so a fresh raspberry pie it was!
I really hate to boast, but I honestly think I have the best pie crust recipe in the world. It’s a recipe I used to use a lot in culinary school, and one that I’ve tweaked over the years. It’s great for people that don’t believe they can make pies (yes you can!) because it’s so simple.
You want to know the secret? Shortening.
I can practically hear you gasping from here but I promise—only shortening can give you the utmost flakiest crust, not butter!
Enjoy this pie with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and soak up the very last sweet taste of summer!
Fresh Raspberry Pie
Discover the surprising ingredient for the best flaky pie crust in this raspberry pie recipe from blogger Jenna Weber of full post at the Fresh Tastes blog.
Ingredients
- for flaky pie crust:
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups shortening (cold), cut into small chunks
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 6 oz very cold water
- for filling:
- 4 cups fresh raspberries
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg yolk, slightly beaten with 1 tbsp warm water
Directions
- Make the pie dough first. The dough can also be made days ahead of time and kept in the freezer.
- To make the dough, mix together the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Add the cold shortening (I keep my shortening in the freezer for this purpose) and work mixture together with your fingertips until all the shortening has been worked into the dry ingredients. The mixture will feel like coarse sand.
- Add the water and mix until a dough forms then wrap up and keep in freezer until ready to use.
- For the filling, mix together raspberries, lemon juice, cornstarch, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Let sit while you roll out the pie dough.
- To assemble the pie, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Take dough out of freezer and slice in half. Place other half back in the freezer. Divide that half into half again and roll out half on a lightly floured surface. Place pie dish on top and cut around dish (leaving an inch extra).
- Place dough gently in pie dish and prick all over with a fork. Place raspberry filling inside but be sure not to overfill. You may not use all of the filling!
- Now, take the rest of the dough and roll out thin again. Cut long one-inch wide strips of dough and weave onto the pie.
- Seal edges of pie and brush beaten egg yolk all over to give shine.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 30 minutes before slicing.
Yield: 6-8 servings
Jenna Weber is half of the Fresh Tastes blog team. She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 2008 and, since then, has worked as a pastry chef, bread baker and freelance food editor. Currently, Jenna blogs full-time on EatLiveRun.com where her delicious daily recipes and quirky culinary musings appeal to thousands. She lives in Northern California and, when not in the kitchen, can usually be found on her yoga mat.
