Raspberry Pie

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.

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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.

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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 

Cannoli Pound Cake

The more I read about New York the more jealous I am of all the Italian deli type places they have, because Italian food is delicious and it seems so easy to get good Italian foods there. I have been to New York City once and cannot wait to go back.

I've never had cannoli before but something about the look of this cake plus its combination of orange, lemon, pistachio, and chocolate drew me to try it.

Notes and observations

• I bought Marsala wine just for this. I had never had it before in my life. It tastes like liquid raisins. I'm in love.

Verdict: I liked it and would make it again if I got a hankering for loaf cake! I'm also motivated to seek out actual cannoli now.

RECIPE: Cannoli Pound Cake

Bourbon Caramel Sauce

I first found this recipe on Pinterest several years ago and made it to bring to an ice cream sundae party, but have made it several times since. Pinterest can be really terrible but this is one of the best things I ever found there. This is simple and incredibly delicious. Every time I make it I am fascinated by how something as simple as browning sugar can make such a difference in taste, and how intense the flavor can get.

I usually put it on ice cream, but it's also good in iced coffee, and I put it on top of a caramel mocha roll cake once (which was delicious).

Tips from making it several times:

• Getting the sugar mixture to the point of browning takes a while but once the sugar starts to brown it darkens quickly, so keep a close watch on it!
• The mixture will spatter when you add the cream, so be careful (the recipe tells you to pour it in slowly and this is important).
• Use the best bourbon you have, or at least something you know you like the taste of. My husband gets mad when I use his good bourbon to flavor this, which confuses me because if I asked to drink that same amount (1 tablespoon!) he would be absolutely fine with it. My favorite so far has been New Holland's Beer Barrel Bourbon, which is aged in barrels that previously aged Dragon's Milk Stout.
• I sometimes add ~1 tsp of high quality vanilla in addition to the bourbon.
• I like to store it in a canning jar. It's easy to get a spoon inside to scoop out the amount you want.
• This will keep for months in the refrigerator, though its magical flavor diminishes a bit after a couple of weeks.

RECIPE: 4 Ingredient Bourbon Caramel Sauce (from Minimalist Baker)

Rhubarb Custard Bars

I made the Rhubarb Bars on Chocolate With Grace. My thoughts and experiences and changes are below.

Crust
+ generous pinch of kosher salt
+ 2 tbsp cold water (Verdict: probably unnecessary but the mix was quite dry otherwise and I was afraid it wouldn't bind. I think this might have contributed to why it took ~23 minutes to brown, but I also think it helped pack it down to make nice solid crust to help keep them together)

Filling
Tossed flour with rhubarb instead of mixing it into the eggs so I wouldn't get lumps/pockets of flour and also so the rhubarb wouldn't all float to the top (but the floating part isn't really a problem because there's not enough custard for it to float in). Seemed to work OK.
- 2/3 cup sugar (I would take out an entire cup next time because it was still pretty sweet with 1 1/3 cups sugar, possibly even down to 3/4 cup total given that the filling is not terribly thick)
+ 1 tsp vanilla
+ 1/2 tsp ground cardamom (I would add even a little more next time but probably not an entire teaspoon)

Other notes
Baked 30 minutes and they were no longer jiggly, but looked a little syrupy under the top crust when cold. Tasted fine though and were solid enough to stay in squares when cut and eggs are cooked enough so as to not be dangerous.

They were sitting in a pool of syrup after cutting and being stacked in the fridge all day. Still delicious, but kind of messy and after a day or so they started to get soft enough to fall apart.

RECIPE: Rhubarb Custard Bars

Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Bark

I made Two Peas and Their Pod's Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Bark to bring along on a road trip with friends. I first made this for Bakeathon 2017 and liked it so much I made it again! I sprinkled fleur de sel on top of a bit of extra saltiness and it was lovely.

RECIPE: Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Bark

Strawberry, Rose, and Honey Cupcakes

I got the idea a while back to try the flavors of strawberry and rose together when I saw a recipe for strawberry-rose jam. I don't like the texture of cooked rose petals in food though and finding edible rose petals seemed like it might be difficult, so I started looking for other ways to incorporate rose into food and decided rose water would be the easiest to find and experiment with given my inexperience cooking with this flavor. I also have an alternative fashion blog called Roses and Honey, a name inspired by songs and books created by one of my favorite bands, and was writing an article for it...when I decided why not mash all of those things together and see what happens? It sounded good, and I'm happy to report that it is in fact good.

Verdict: For cobbling the parts together from other recipes and trying a bunch of new recipes and techniques (using rose flavoring in food, piping roses, adding glitter), I'm very happy with the result. When I first made it I used less rose water than written below, and I didn't think the rose flavor was all that noticeable so I increased the amounts for the recipe below. I also did not initially put rose water in the frosting and thought it would benefit from that addition in the future, so I wrote it into the recipe. They are rather labor intensive so I don't know if I'd want to make them for a large event but I'd be excited to make these again for something like a small, fancy tea party.

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RECIPE:

Strawberry, Rose, and Honey Cupcakes

adapted from Baking Mischief (cupcakes), Sally's Baking Addiction (filling), Savory Sweet Life (frosting)
Makes 12 cupcakes

Vanilla-rose cupcakes:
6 tbsp (85g) unsalted butter, softened
7/8 cup (175g) granulated sugar
2 egg whites (80g) from large eggs
1 tsp (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
1 tsp (5 ml) rose water (optional)
1 cup (120g) sifted all-purpose flour, divided
1 tsp (5 g) baking powder
1/4 tsp (1 g) salt
10 tablespoons (5 fl oz, 148 ml) milk

Strawberry-rose filling:
1 cup (140 g) strawberries, fresh or frozen, chopped
1/4 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 tbsp (8g) cornstarch mixed with 1 tsp warm water
1/2 tbsp (7 ml) rose water

Buttercream frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks, 225g) salted butter, softened
4 cups (440 g) sifted powdered sugar
1 tbsp (15 ml) pure vanilla extract
1 tsp (5 ml) rose water
2 drops red food coloring
2-4 tbsp (30-60 ml) heavy cream, half-and-half, or milk

Decoration:
2 tbsp (30 ml) honey, the more local to you the better
Edible gold or pink glitter (optional)

Prepare cupcakes: Preheat oven to 375°F. Insert a paper liner into each cup of a 12-cup cupcake pan. Cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until lightened in color and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in egg whites, then vanilla extract and rose water. Mix in half of the flour, baking powder, and salt on low speed until just incorporated, then add milk and mix on low speed again until incorporated. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until smooth. Scoop batter into lined baking cups, filling each one to just under 2/3 full. Place pan on middle oven rack and bake for 18-20 minutes. They are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or only with dry crumbs. When cool enough to handle, move cupcakes to a rack to cool to room temperature. While they cool, prepare filling and frosting.

Prepare filling: Heat strawberries in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until strawberries are thawed (if frozen) and have released liquid. Add sugar and cornstarch mixture to the pan, and cook for several more minutes, stirring constantly. When cornstarch has activated and mixture has thickened considerably (this could take up to 5 minutes), stir in rose water, then remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature while you prepare frosting.

Prepare frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Mix in 3 cups of powdered sugar in several additions on low speed (so it doesn’t fly everywhere) until well incorporated. It will look clumpy but this is normal. Add vanilla, rose water, food coloring, and 2 tbsp of cream, and beat until smooth. Add remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar and beat until completely incorporated and smooth. If frosting is too stiff, add more cream a little at a time until it is still thick but able to be piped.

Assembly: Using a grapefruit spoon or paring knife, cut a cylinder or cone shaped core out of the center of each cupcake, being careful to keep it intact and not go all the way through to the bottom. Fill the spaces with about ½-1 tbsp of the strawberry-rose filling and replace the core (you might have to cut some of the cake off the bottom of the core so the filling doesn’t squish out). Load the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large size petal piping tip (#104). Pipe a rose onto the top of each cupcake. Drizzle honey in a thin stream onto the top of each cupcake; it will bead on the surface after it falls. I find this is easiest to do if you put the honey in a bowl or other container, dip a spoon into it then hold it above the bowl, and once the initial large blob of honey falls from the spoon, move the stream over the group of cupcakes. If using edible glitter, dip a small dry paintbrush into the container of glitter, hold about 4-6 inches above the cupcakes, and gently tap on the handle of the brush to scatter the glitter onto the cupcakes.

Store covered in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Extra filling can be refrigerated or frozen. Extra frosting can be refrigerated.

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Notes:

• Supposedly rose water is similar in strength to vanilla extract. I feel like I was conservative with the rose flavor since I am not experienced with adding it to food and it's easy to overdo; if you really like the flavor of rose, use a little more.
• You might be able to find rose water at your regular grocery store, but if not, try an Indian or Middle Eastern market. Some Asian markets also carry it. Keep in mind that rose water and rose extract are very different; rose extract is much more concentrated. If you can only find rose extract, use it sparingly (drops of it is probably enough). Rose liqueur could probably also be substituted in equal amounts as rose water if it's all you can find; Vom Fass sells a really tasty one.
• Use the best quality fruit you can find. Frozen strawberries can be used since they're being cooked, and often have better flavor than fresh ones most of the year where I live. I used frozen strawberries that I picked the previous summer.
• This Rose Cupcake Piping Technique Tutorial from CakesbyLynz was really helpful for learning to pipe roses on cupcakes.
• This is the petal tip I used for piping (Wilton #104).
• Warning: I have calculated weights/metric volumes of ingredients but have not tested this recipe using the weights.