Raspberry Cream Crumble Pie...

Raspberries, creamy filling, crumble topping, and delicate pie crust.  Can you handle this?  Wow!  This is one of those fantastic recipes that I will make each year during the height of raspberry season, yep, it's that good.  I am completely in love!

I have to say that the raspberries are the most important piece of this puzzle, it requires very fresh, ripe, and sweet raspberries.  A farmer friend of mine was able to get some glorious little jewels from a farmer friend of his in Oregon yesterday.  These berries are divine, ripened in the sun and carefully picked.  I know that they are not local, but really, they are from a friend of a friend and a small sustainable organic berry farm.  It doesn't get much better than that!  Make sure you get berries grown on a farm that were picked a day or two ago at their peak.  You will have an amazing tasting pie if you do!

I switched the original recipe just a bit.  The crust was made with shortening and egg; I am not a fan of shortening in pie crust.  If you are gonna eat pie, I say go for the gold and use good ol' butter!  Crust made with butter has a creamier taste, better texture and no nasty aftertaste like you get with shortening.  I also reduced the sugar in the recipe just a bit.  I was afraid to go too far with the reduction in that area, because it is one of the factors in the consistency of the filling.  A bit less sugar is still a bit better... but really, this is pie - it's good for your soul, not your arteries, right?!?

Give this a go, you won't be disappointed one bit, and you will love raspberries even more!

RASPBERRY CREAM CRUMBLE PIE

adapted from Gingerbread Bagels

Crust:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter chilled and cut into small pieces

1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Filling:

4 1/2 cups raspberries

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumb Topping:

2 1/2 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch ground nutmeg

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup plus 2 1/2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.

With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour.  (The extra dough can be frozen for a month, or kept in the refrigerator for a few days... so you can make another pie!)

Remove dough from the refrigerator, roll into a large circle, place in pie pan.  Cut the edges with 1/2-inch overhang.  Tuck the overhand under to make a nice rolled edge around the pie, then flute the edges to make a decorative edge around the pie.  

Place the pie in the refrigerator while you work on the filling. In a bowl whisk together the sugar and flour. Add in the sour cream, eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until combined.

Take the pie crust out of the refrigerator and put the raspberries on the bottom of the crust. Pour the filling over the raspberries and spread it out.

Now make the crumb topping. Mix together the sugar, brown sugar, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Pour the melted unsalted butter into the bowl and mix everything together.

Add in the flour and mix until the ingredients form a crumble topping.  Crumble the crumb topping over the pie.

Mix together 1 large egg and 1 tablespoon of water and brush over the edge of the crust. You won’t use all of the egg wash.

Bake the pie at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10-15 minutes.  If the crust starts to brown too quickly, you can cover the pie with aluminum foil during the remaining baking time (the pie is done when the filling is somewhat firm, I baked it for the full hour and 15 minutes.).  Let the pie cool for at least 1 hour on a cooling rack before cutting into slices. The filling will set when the pie cools.  

It's even better the second day...