Raspberry Pie

This is a recipe that I have been working on for years as raspberry pie is something that is loved by my whole family. We Carmonys are actually split in our love between red raspberry (husband Kevin, son Nick) and black raspberry (son Tyler, father-in-law Ron) and this recipe can be used for both varieties.

I have to say that I have finally gotten the ingredient proportions for this pie down pretty perfect for the version using frozen red raspberries. I have grown both red and black raspberries over the years; but am sad to report that since our latest move, we no longer have our own canes to harvest. So, I have resorted to using frozen berries and am really pleased with this recipe. If you want to try this with fresh berries, I suggest between 5 1/2 – 6 cups of berries will be necessary. I will update this post next time I bake this recipe with fresh berries, so be sure to get my recipe updates by subscribing to my blog!

This recipe makes a very full deep dish pie and does not have a glut of sugar as we love the tartness of the berries to shine through. I hope you love it as much as we do! Also, I made raspberry syrup with the leftover juice from the frozen berries and that recipe is found here on my blog as well.

Raspberry Pie

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Ingredients

1 40 ounce pkg frozen red raspberries
3 T. cornstarch
2 T. instant tapioca
1½ cups sugar
2 T. butter
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 unbaked pie crusts
1 egg
1 T. heavy cream or whole milk
2 teaspoons coarse sugar (also called sparkling or sanding sugar)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Drain defrosted raspberries, retaining juice.
Place raspberries with 1 T of juice in large bowl. Save rest of juice for another use.
Add in almond extract.
In small bowl combine sugar, cornstarch and tapioca with a whisk.
Stir into raspberries until completely combined.
Place bottom crust in deep glass pie dish, ensuring that the edges of dough extend over lip of pie dish. If you are using purchased refrigerated dough, you will likely need to roll it out a bit to get it big enough to accomplish this. Just lightly flour your rolling surface and gently roll out just a bit thinner to achieve a larger circle.
Fill pie dough with raspberry mixture.
Cut 2 T. butter into small pieces and place over top of filling, spacing the pieces as evenly as possible. If you are making a decorative cut in the top of the pie as I have shown for my son's "N" , try not to place butter in center where cut out will be.
Again, roll out the bottom pie crust so that it overlaps the edge of the pie plate by at least ½". Then make your decorative cut in the center of the circle of the dough. I usually use small cookie cutters to make these cuts. You can do letters, hearts, or anything that goes with your season or celebration.
Carefully place top pie crust onto the top of the pie over the filling.
Then, take the edge of the top crust and fold it under the bottom crust all the way around the pie. This is an important step as using this method prior to crimping the crust ensures that you are sealing the filling completely into the pie crust and preventing over-spill of the filling from leaking out the edges of the pie during baking. You really want any filling excess to come out of the decorative cut in the top of the pie instead.
Then, crimp around the entire edge of the pie crust to seal. I usually just use the two fingers of one hand and one finger of the other hand in between them to create a fluted edge.
In a small bowl whisk one egg with 1 T. heavy cream or milk.
Brush entire top of pie with egg wash using a pastry brush, making sure not to leave any pools of egg wash.
Sprinkle pie crust with coarse sugar.
Place pie onto a sheet pan lined with tin foil to facilitate easy clean up.
Bake for 50 - 60 minutes until the raspberry filling bubbles are slowly bursting indicating that the filling is thick. The top of the pie should be a beautiful golden color as a result of the egg wash and sugar.
Even though you are tempted to eat this amazing pie the second it comes out of the oven, it will run all over your plate if you do not let it cool completely before attempting to cut it.
Go run around the block to burn off some calories so that you can eat two pieces when it is cool!