Kitchen Window's Perfect Raspberry Pie
Pie Ingredients
1 basic pie crust recipe (see recipe below)
3 cups fresh raspberries
2/3 cups cold water
3/4 cups sugar
2 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup cold, heavy cream
2 teaspoons powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a chilled pie shell with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans (to prevent shrinkage). Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Remove foil and pie weights. Prick crust all over and return to oven. Bake 3-5 additional minutes or until crust is evenly golden and completely cooked. If it begins to get too dark in some spots, cover with pie shield or foil ring. Cool thoroughly on a wire rack.
Whisk together water and cornstarch. Combine with one cup of the raspberries and the sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring constantly and cook until clear and thickened (about 3 min). Remove from heat and stir in butter. Cool to room temperature.
Carefully spread the remaining berries (if desired, reserve eight perfect ones for garnish) over the pie crust and spread the raspberry filling evenly over them.
Whip cream, sugar and extracts until just stiff, being careful not to over whip. Serve the whipped cream alongside the pie or fill a pastry bag with a large star tip and pipe eight evenly-spaced rosettes inside the crust edge. Top each with a raspberry and chill at least 1 hour before serving.
Basic Pie Crust
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) of cold, unsalted butter cut into small bits
¼ to ½ cup ice water
Chill all ingredients and work bowl before starting.
Put the cold flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Add the pieces of butter and process for 8-10 seconds until the mixture resembles coarse meal. (To mix by hand, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Use a pastry blender or two table knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.)
Add ice water, drop by drop, through the feed tube with the machine running until the dough just begins to come together; do not process for more than 30 seconds. Test the dough by pressing between your fingers, if it is still crumbly add a bit more water.
Lay a piece of plastic wrap on the counter and turn the dough out onto it. Quickly form into a ball and press down into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
On a lightly floured surface, working as quickly as possible so the dough doesn’t have a chance to soften, roll it out to the thickness of one inch. Cut out a 13” circle (for a 9” pie dish) and fold the dough into fourths (lightly flour if dough is a little sticky). Transfer the dough to a pie dish and unfold. Press into the bottom & edges of the dish. Trim edges using a sharp paring knife and crimp or decorate. Chill for at least an hour.
Unbaked pastry shell can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one day and can be frozen for up to 2 months.
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