A fabulous raspberry pie....

A week or two ago, friends from Florida on a road trip stopped by to spend a weekend with us. They brought us a wonderful gift -- a quart of raspberries they had picked in New York state the day before. These raspberries were perfectly ripe and were the largest, most succulent raspberries we had ever seen. They just called out to be made into something special. Our friends asked somewhat wistfully if I had ever made a pie with fresh raspberries -- they had never tasted one. So I thought back to the most delicious, fresh-tasting raspberry pie I had ever made. Years ago, when I worked at an inn as a part-time pastry cook, this was a featured recipe. I memorized it during my time there. They made this pie with cut-up strawberries, then raspberries, then blackberries, as the respective fruits came into season. I don't recall them making it with blueberries, but I think it would be every bit as good using those. Here's the recipe:

RASPBERRY CREAM PIE

1 9-inch pie shell, baked and cooled
1 quart raspberries*, divided use
1 1/3 cups water, divided use
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 pint heavy whipping cream (that would be 1 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Put 1 cup of the raspberries into a saucepan with 1 cup water and the sugar. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer the mixture for 15 minutes. Mix the cornstarch into the remaining 1/3 cup water and stir into the simmering mixture. Cook and stir until thick. Cool the mixture and stir in the remaining 3 cups of uncooked raspberries. Place in the refrigerator until cold.

Whip the cream until stiff and whip in the vanilla. Pile the whipped cream into the baked pie shell. Gently spread the raspberry mixture over the cream. Chill the pie 3 to 4 hours before serving.

* Or use blueberries, blackberries, or halved or sliced strawberries. I have never tried using a combination of berries, but I imagine that would be good, too.

Our friends raved about this pie and said they wished it was polite to lick one's plate! It did turn out to be absolutely delicious. I had never had such remarkable berries to make this pie with before, so Mr. T and I enjoyed it every bit as much as our friends did.

If you want to use some summer berries in a marvelous way, try this recipe! And let me know what you think!