Raspberries are one of my favorite fruits. Until I was about 20 years old, I had only ever had fresh raspberries from the grocery store in the little plastic clamshell boxes. Expensive, few, and precious, a special treat. But now they are even more special because for me, they are steeped in the generosity of others.
My life experience with raspberry pie began rocky. My mom made a raspberry pie one time when I was a child, thickened with tapioca. I distinctly remember this because the tapioca didn't get thoroughly cooked and it was grainy and had white flecks. Then I met my husband, and he told me his grandma's raspberry pie was one of his very favorite desserts, despite not liking fruit pie in general. Early in our relationship, he went to visit his grandmother in the summer, and in typical grandma fashion she sent him home with a huge pile of fresh raspberries that she grew, the largest amount of raspberries I had ever seen in one place, way more than one could possibly finish before getting tired of them or the fruit going bad. I made a pie for him with my mom's strawberry pie recipe (which I like) but with raspberry ingredients. Half of it rotted in the fridge and I was a little sad but I have to admit that even I thought it was just OK.
We were still dating the next summer, and that year he decided to bring me to the annual family reunion to meet his grandmother. I was nervous but everyone was kind, especially grandma. She had brought raspberry pie since the raspberries were in season. It was in a 9x13 pan, and the filling was about twice as thick as a regular pie. I loved it and I told her so. From then on, she'd be sure to bring frozen raspberries to reunions to give to me, and she wrote up her recipe for the pie and gave it to me because she knew I liked to cook and bake too. A couple of times, the reunion was not going to happen because she and her boyfriend were planning a long vacation but she invited us to their farm (her boyfriend's dairy farm, but they also grew fruit and vegetables for their own use) to pick the raspberries while they were away, so someone could enjoy them (I'm thankful I got to be the one to do that).
One summer, she invited us to visit and pick raspberries while they were there, on my birthday. We picked fruit for about an hour, and she had of course made a pie and lots and lots of other food. They also gave us furniture they didn't want, and we got to play with the farm kittens. She even dug up some rhubarb and raspberry plants for us to plant in our yard now that we had one. It was a beautiful, relaxing day.
Unfortunately, since then grandma has not hosted a reunion and has had to move away from the farm into assisted living due to her health, and there's no one to care for the raspberries. My raspberry patch had a rough, slow start (my own fault for planting it where I did initially) but has finally established itself, though it still doesn't produce anywhere near enough to bake with.
However, the thread of love and generosity through raspberries continues to grow longer. My neighbors across the street inherited a large raspberry patch that gives their family more than they care to eat, and they share with me.
In the spirit of all this generosity, I try to share this pie with as many people as I can. The year she moved to my city, my sister and I ate nearly a whole pie by ourselves in a weekend while she hunted for apartments. I have brought this pie to work potlucks a couple of times, to rave reviews. Another year I made one, and the next day the electricity went out. The pie has to stay cold because of the gelatin in it but it was 90 degrees and humid outside. Around the 24 hour mark, the neighbors without electricity got together in the evening to while away some time, and we shared this pie so it wouldn't go bad (nobody complained about getting to eat pie). Another summer, my dear friend visited me for lazy vacation time after her bachelorette weekend and we picked raspberries and made a pie together. Picking goes a lot faster with two people, and you have someone to curse the mosquitoes with too. ;)
Grandma C's recipe makes use of ingredients and techniques I wouldn't normally consider to be quality cooking (Jello mix and an oil-based no-roll crust, for example) but the result tastes so good that I can't mess with it. The contrast of textures (crumbly crust, smooth gelatin, soft fruit) and balance of sweet and tart is what really makes this pie good.
------------------
RECIPE:
Fresh Raspberry Pie
from my husband's Grandma C (Sandy)
Crust:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup (100 g) vegetable oil
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp milk
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together flour, salt, 2 tbsp sugar, oil, and milk until combined.
Pat into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden
brown, pricking any bubbles with a fork or knife to release air. Remove from
oven and place pan on a rack to cool. When it is almost or completely cooled, prepare filling.
Filling:
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups water
2 tbsp cornstarch
3 oz (1 small box) raspberry flavored gelatin
4 cups (about 1 lb/450 g) fresh raspberries, washed (or 4-5 cups / 20 oz frozen raspberries; see notes)
Place 1 cup sugar, water, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Whisk to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking often so it doesn’t burn. Let boil for about 3 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in dry gelatin until well combined; this usually takes about 2 minutes. Gently fold in raspberries and pour into pie shell. Refrigerate until set, about 3-4 hours.
------------
Notes:
- If you REALLY have a lot of raspberries to burn and a crowd to bake for, double the recipe and make it in a 9x13 inch pan a la Grandma C.
- One thing I have done to improve upon this recipe is making it work with frozen raspberries. Homegrown raspberries are best, of course, but frozen ones from the grocery store would likely work too since they're often harvested and immediately frozen at their freshest. Though the texture might not be as good, I think I may like the taste better than fresh raspberries (not to mention much less expensive...nothing like a $50 pie that also doesn't taste good). If using frozen berries, thaw overnight in refrigerator (or carefully
defrost in the microwave) and reserve juice/liquid that comes out after thawing. Add 1
tbsp lemon juice to filling; decrease water in filling by 1 cup and use juice
from thawed berries in its place.
- You can also make this with fresh strawberries and strawberry gelatin. I do not recommend using frozen strawberries.
- I usually end up with a little extra filling. You can pour it into small bowls or glasses, put it in the refrigerator to set, and eat
