Me Oh My, I Love Pie

I haven’t seen the movie Michael for years, and about the only thing I can remember from it is John Travolta saying, “Battle!” and the Pie Song.

Pie
Pie
Me oh my
Nothing tastes sweet, wet, salty and dry
all at once o well it’s pie
Apple!
Pumpkin!
Minced
an’ wet bottom.
Come to your place everyday if you’ve got em’
Pie
Me oh my
I love pie

I don’t bake as much as my mama, and I am trying to bake healthier, but sometimes you just have to savor the sweet things in life. (My apologies to Sally Fallon of Nourishing Traditions and all the others who have made it unequivocally known that white sugar is evil. I make evil jam and jelly, too, just like my mom and grandma and heaven only knows how many family members before me.) Our Fall Red raspberries are in their glory, and raspberry pie is one of my favorite seasonal treats. Sure, you can make it with frozen raspberries, too, but fresh just adds that little extra something.

Check out these raspberries. That’s a quarter in the center on the counter. As I said, as long as I keep watering, they will likely keep producing until frost.

 

The pie in these pictures was made with a nut crust. I have also made a shortbread crust and a coconut crust. Mom always made hers with a standard pie crust, which she did not pre-bake. Here are the crust recipes I have used this season.

Nut crust

2 cups ground pecans or almonds
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions

Combine the ground nuts, butter and sugar.
Press the mixture evenly into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate.
Bake at 350°F for 5 to 7 minutes to precook crust before final bake.

Coconut Crust

1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter, but I used coconut oil)
2 cups dried unsweetened coconut meat, finely shredded

Combine the oil and coconut meat.
Press the mixture evenly into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate.
Bake at 350°F for 5 to 7 minutes to precook crust before final bake.

Shortbread Crust

1 c. flour
2 tbsp. sugar
6 tbsp. butter

Sift flour and sugar together into mixing bowl. With pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles cornmeal. Chill 30 minutes. Then press firmly into 9 inch pie pan. Pre-bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes.

Note: The nut, shortbread and coconut recipes make enough for a generous 9-inch pie crust or a thinner ten inch pie crust.

Mama’s Pie Crust Recipe

3 cups flour
1 cup lard
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
5 tbsp water
1 tablespoon vinegar

KEEP INGREDIENTS AS COLD AS POSSIBLE FOR A FLAKIER PIE CRUST AND DO NOT OVERWORK DOUGH. Cut together flour and lard with a pastry blender to form pea sized bits. Mix other ingredients in a separate bowl, then cut into flour mix with a fork. Chill before rolling out between two sheets of wax paper or on a pastry cloth. Makes 3-4 pie crusts.

Raspberry Cream Pie

1 – 9 inch pie crust, unbaked
4 cups raspberries, fresh or partially thawed, individually frozen
2/3 cup sugar
4 Tablespoon. flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream

Place berries over bottom of crust. Combine remaining ingredients in bowl, mixing until blended. Pour over berries. Bake at 400 degrees, 40 to 50 minutes. Cover edge of crust during baking (to keep it from browning too much). Pie sets up as it cools.

 

The raspberries are loaded in the pre-baked nut crust and the liquid is ready to pour over the top. I pour on the cream mixture and put it on a pie drip pan and cover the edge of the crust with a pie shield. The drip tray has a hole in the center (like a doughnut) to let the heat reach the pie plate, but catches any drips before they mess up your oven. I bought it from the Country Store, but I just checked and they don’t stock them anymore. The pie crust shield I bought at Cook’s Corner. They have silicon ones at Country Store, but I think I like the metal ones better. they come in 9 and 10 inch sizes. If you can find them and you make pies at all, I highly recommend both products.

Close to an hour later, we’ve got a hot, creamy pie with a yummy mix of tart and sweet encased in nutty goodness. I think the coconut is my favorite combo to date, but all are good.

You can also do a variation on the raspberry filling with buttermilk using:

3/4 cup sugar
3 TBSP flour
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
3-4 cups raspberries

Leave me a note if you’ve got a favorite pie recipe you’d like to share.