Fresh Raspberry Pie

Last summer I was living in the great state of Washington where blackberries were an invasive plant and we were able to pick loads of berries and fill our freezer with those wonderfully tasty morsels. This summer I am missing the blackberries, but have been blessed to have a raspberry patch in my backyard, so all was not lost. Because raspberries gets crushed a lot easier than blackberries, I've found getting raspberry juice for fresh raspberry pie is A LOT easier than Fresh Blackberry Pie, but the recipe is fairly the same. This recipe works well for both fresh and frozen raspberries.

Fresh Raspberry Pie

-Pre baked pie shell
-4 C raspberries
-3/4 C raspberry juice
-2 Tbsp + 1 tsp of corn starch
-1/4 C brown sugar
-1/4 C white sugar
-1 tsp vanilla

-wash your raspberries (if fresh) place in a strainer and let the extra juice collect in a bowl. Add water to the juice to get 3/4 of a cup of liquid. *after washing I usually put the berries in a bowl and stick it in the fridge or a day or two until I get the time to make pie, I then drain the berries and get more juice because the berries have been worked over a bit*
-sift the corn start and sugars into the juice in a saucepan and whisk until smooth
-bring the mixture to a boil over med-low heat and continue to boil until the mixture is thick. about 3 minutes.
-Remove from heat and cool
-Gently fold in the berries and spoon into a baked pie shell.

Cherry Pie

I have a sour cherry tree in my backyard and I absolutely LOVE it! I've made LOADS of jam and like 12 pies. A few of my pies were fantastic, but a bit on the sour side. (a bit as in, it was so sour I had to put like a tbsp of sugar on top in order to eat it!) Then I made some that were definitely sweet enough but I realized that because I added SO much sugar, the filling was a bit too liquid. But I did manage to make a few perfect pies that tasted pretty fantastic. So for my own future reference and your enjoyment, here is the recipe:
*If using sweet cherries, add half the amount of sugar*

Sour Cherry Pie

-3 to 4 C fresh cherries, pitted
-1 C of cherry juice 
-3 Tbsp corn starch
-1/3 C brown sugar + 1/3 C brown sugar
-1/4 C white sugar
-1/2 tsp almond extract
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-double pie pastry

-To get the cherry juice, drain the cherries after you have pitted them. Add water to get 1 C or boil some extra cherries in a little water and drain the juice off that. (imperfect cherries are good for this)
-Sift together the corn starch and sugars into a saucepan. Whisk in the cherry juice.
-Stir over med-low heat until the mixture thickens and starts to boil. Continue to boil for about 2-3 minutes,
-Add the extra 1/3 C of brown sugar and mix until smooth and the sugar has dissolved, about 1 minute.
-Remove from heat and mix in the flavorings
-Let cool and then fold in the cherries

-Roll out the pie dough and place into the bottom of a pie pan. Fill with cherry mixture to just below the top (you DO NOT want to over fill or your cherries will boil over TIP: bake your pie on a cookie sheet to avoid possible overspill and mess)
-Brush the edges of the pie with milk
-Roll out the remaining dough and place on top, or cut strips of dough out and make a lattice crust for the top.
-Brush the top with milk and sprinkle a little sugar on top.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden brown in the middle. OR you can wrap the pie in plastic wrap and freeze it. 

Note: You will probably get enough sauce for about 2 pies, depending on your sauce to cherry ratio. I like less sauce and more cherries, so I can make the sauce stretch for about 2 8in pies. It really depends on personal preference. Sometimes I add more sugar to the sauce after it thickens if I'm in the mood for a sweeter and less tart pie. If you do add more sugar, make sure it's after the mixture thickens (speaking from many trials and errors, do not do this before it thickens because it will literally take FOREVER for the starch to cook) If you do add more sugar, the sauce won't be as thick, so you should sprinkle about 1-2 tsp of flour over the cherry mixture before adding the top crust and it should help thicken the sauce so it's less runny.
*Update* I made the pie again today, adding the extra 1/3 C brown sugar to the sauce after it had thickened (I added this to the recipe because I didn't think it was sweet enough and it was the sauce was almost too thick without it) I had also tossed my sour cherries with a little white sugar, just enough to coat them after I pitted them, so I then also sprinkled 1 tsp of flour over the pie before I put a lattice top on and it turned out quite nice, not too runny and not too thick.

This sauce freezes well and can be used at a later time to make pie or use as a filling for Black Forest Cake.

Cookies 'n Cream Cheesecake

I just don't know how some people can manage to pull off blogging all the time, especially Mom's with small children. I've got 4 kids under 5 years old, and we recently moved to a new country. I believe it's safe to say that I am more than busy. Whenever I get a chance to breath I don't think "hey I'll go catch up on my blog now" instead I either go to bed early, or more realistically, I'm cooking, baking, cleaning or pulling weeds in the garden. (in Canada you can do that later at night since it's so light out!) Anyway, it's been a LONG while since I've posted any new recipes, but I figured I'd better write down some and share them before I forget the recipes. But since I'm the kind of person who checks out a baking blog solely for the recipes, and NOT to read a super LONG post about how amazing the specified recipe is (obviously it's good or you wouldn't post it...right?) I'm going to cut my "I'm so busy rant" short and give you the goods. Enjoy!

Cookies 'n Cream Cheesecake

Crust:

-1 1/3 C Oreo or dark chocolate cookie crumbs 

-1/3 C melted butter

-combine the crumbs and butter and mix thoroughly. Press firmly into a 9 in cheesecake pan. (if you are doing mini cheesecakes, press into the muffin tins)

Filling:

-3 pkg cream cheese, softened
-1 can of condensed milk
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 eggs
-1 1/2 C crushed chocolate cookies or Oreos

-Mix the cream cheese with the condensed and vanilla until smooth.
-Add the eggs, one at a time, only mixing until fully incorporated. Don't over mix.
-Fold in the crushed cookies pieces
-Pour over top of the crust.
Bake at 300 degrees for 30-45 minutes until the center is almost set. You want about the size of a quarter to still look a little wet in the middle. If you are making cupcakes or mini cupcakes, you will want to cut the time down considerably, depending on the size of cupcakes.

-Allow to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 2-4 hours before serving. Top with white chocolate whipped cream and garnish with cookie crumbs before serving if desired.

White Chocolate Whipped Cream

-1 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
-1 C white chocolate chips (add more or less depending on how sweet you like your whipped cream)-1 tsp vanilla

-Mix the chocolate chips with 1/2 c of the cream and melt in the microwave or stove top until smooth. (stirring frequently) Allow to cool to room temperature.
-Whip the remaining cup of cream and vanilla until thick.
-While still whipping the cream, slowly add the melted chocolate mixture to the whipped cream. Mix until smooth.
-Top cheese cake and chill until ready to serve.