Raspberry Cream Pie

Yesterday was National Raspberry Cream Pie Day! Hooray, and all that jazz. I technically didn't miss this particular holiday - I did make the pie last night. It just wasn't ready to eat until after we'd all gone to bed. So the eating and the posting are taking place today.

I sorta made this recipe up. Making the pie was a last minute decision, so I was limited in what ingredients I could use, having to rely solely on what I had on hand. I thought it would be delicious to do a pie with a box of vanilla pudding, some cream cheese, raspberry jello, and cool whip. Unfortunately, I was missing three of the four ingredients, so that idea wouldn't work. Then I hit on the idea of doing a homemade cream pie filling and adding the raspberry jello to that. So that's what I did. This is a simple vanilla cream pie, with a box of raspberry jello added. Easy peasy.


Raspberry Cream Pie
3 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups milk
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
2 tsp. vanilla
1 small box raspberry jello powder
1 baked 9-inch pastry shell or graham cracker crust

Beat egg yolks with fork in medium bowl; set aside. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in 2-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils (this is the hardest part, because it takes a long time!). Boil and stir 1 minute.

Immediately stir about 1 cup of the hot mixture gradually into egg yolks, then stir back into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in butter, vanilla, and jello. Pour into pie crust. Press plastic wrap on filling to prevent a tough layer from forming on top. Refrigerate several hours until set.

Remove plastic wrap. If you want to, top with whipped cream or cool whip, maybe some fresh raspberries, mint leaves, etc. I didn't have any of that stuff, so we left the pie garnish-less. Still delicious!


Here's the pie crust I used. It's the kind that you pat into the pan instead of rolling out - not only does it use oil which is a healthier fat than shortening or butter, but it's great for if you rarely have a clean surface on which to roll out a pie crust...

Pat-in-the-Pan Oil Pastry
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup oil
2 tbsp. cold water

Mix flour, salt, and oil until all flour is moistened. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all water is absorbed.

Gather pastry into a ball. Press in bottom and up sides of pie plate.

Prick bottom and sides of pastry thoroughly with fork. Bake at 475 for 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown; cool on rack. Or if using for a baked filling (like pumpkin pie, single-crust fruit pie, etc.) - fill and bake as directed in pie recipe.


This pie was really the best of both worlds - the creaminess of a pudding pie, with the fruity flavor and sturdy structure of jello. Zaylee has affectionately termed it "yummy pink pie." We decided that this would be a fun pie to experiment with - the variety of flavors you can choose from is as vast as the flavors of jello available. Peach, strawberry, grape, lime, cherry, all would be so delicious in this fun, creamy, fruity pie. :-)