Soapsmith's Blog: Soapsmith's Black Raspberry Cream Pie

Hello Friends,

Early July always means foraging for wild black raspberries. I love them fresh, so sweet and juicy. They make great jelly and jams and here is a delicious black raspberry cream pie with crumb topping. These are black raspberries, not blackberries - two different berries.

My childhood memories are dominated with gleaning the fields, woodlands, farms and pick your own orchards of wild strawberries, blue berries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, apples, pears, tomatoes, corn and potatoes. While the wild harvested berries are much smaller than the garden variety tame berries, the flavors are brighter and worth effort. They often carry a tartness that adds to the flavor profile but you can certain get good results with purchased berries instead of traipsing the woods and fields in search of the fruits provided by mother nature.

My Dad would often discover stand of the berries on his fishing expeditions and the next day take us along to fill our pots. We would come home, sit at the kitchen table and carefully clean and prep the berries for Mom's jelly. I also remember how much the scratches stung when taking my bath those evenings... ouch! I am lucky enough to have them growing in my own yard along the border of the woods so it is easy picking.

Black raspberries are easy to spot as they tend to favor the edges of woodlands and the canes often stretch out to catch the sun. The canes have a dusty, light green color and stand out. They are quite thorny so be prepared for some scratches for your efforts.

Look at these beauties, free for the picking!

Soapsmith's Raspberry Cream Pie

1 unbaked pie shell

You can make your own from scratch, or use a purchased shell

Crust recipe:

3 cups pastry flour

1/2 cup lard or sub vegetable shortening

1/2 cup cold butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vinegar

up to 1/2 cup ice water

Combine flour, salt and fats with pastry cutter until evenly crumbly.

Mix the vinegar and water and add drizzle it over the crumbs.

Combine just until it comes together, don't overwork it.

(You can also do these steps in a food processor, pulsing to combine)

Split it into two flattened rounds and chill

Roll out on a floured surface

This makes two bottom crusts or one top and bottom crust.

Gently transfer to your pie and flute the edges. If you are baking

the shell empty, prick the entire surface and bake at 400 degrees

until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

Crumb topping

I use this recipe for all of my fruit pies

1/2 cup cold butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup flour

Cut with pastry cutter or food processor until crumbly.

Note: you can add spices like cinnamon, lemon zest,

sub 1/2 cup brown sugar for half of the white sugar etc.

Blackberry Cream Pie Filling

4 to 5 cups fresh cleaned black raspberries

4 tablespoons of cornstarch

1 cup sugar (more or less to your taste)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Optional: lemon zest, nutmeg

Combine the cornstarch, flour, cinnamon and salt

mix well and dust the berries with the dry mixture

fill the unbaked crust.

Pour the heavy cream into the dusted berries.

If necessary, gently move the berries to distribute the cream evenly.

Top with the crumb topping and bake at 375 until bubbly and golden brown, about 45 minutes. Note: this pie often overflows so I always bake my fruit pies

on a drip catcher.