Berry Cream Pie

I have been up to my ears in pie the last few days. With  some success, and some failures.  I will share my successful pies with you… we ate the failures I'm not so sorry to say, and found that though they didn't look very pretty, they tasted yummy... but, okay,  yes I will share the failures with you as well.

These pies turned out really yummy, and are perfect Patriotic Pies (now that's a mouthful). I have had that song "American Pie"in my head all week, I think because of all this pie making for the Fourth of July. For this recipe, I made  a homemade pudding combined with cream cheese for the base, and topped them with either fresh berries or cherry and blueberry pie filling and little stars cut out of pie crust.

 You begin by making a Vanilla pudding.

Add a tab of butter.  Allow the pudding to cool slightly.

Mix  2 1/2 8 oz packages of softened Cream Cheese

Pour in the warm pudding and mix until all is smooth.  Set aside.

Make your pie crust for 1 double crusts... (which will become two single crust pies instead). I use this recipe, its my favorite.  I use half white flour and half whole wheat flour.

Prick the bottom of your pies with a fork...

bake, and set aside to cool.

Cut and bake stars from left over pie pastry.  Bake about 10 minutes at 350 degrees, watching them carefully so they don't over brown.

Fill the baked pie crusts with the pudding cream cheese mixture.

Top with fresh berries or pre-made Cherry Pie Filling.

Here is the recipe for homemade Cherry Pie Filling

Decorate with baked pie crust stars.

The creamy filling is delicious with fresh fruit or pre-made pie filling.

The Cherry version didn't come out quite as pretty as the fresh fruit version, but I loved the flavor of the cherries and cream cheese pudding.

I did put a little blueberry pie filling in the middle of the Cherries, but they looked a little too red in their "cooked" state, so I added fresh blueberries to  give it a better visual.

The little mini pies were made with extra crust and filling.

Berry Cream Pie

Ingredients:

2 baked pie shells (Click here for the Pie Pastry recipe).

2 cups cooked and lightly cooled Vanilla Pudding. 

See below for a recipe for homemade vanilla pudding (you could also use a store bought package to make the pudding). 

2 1/2  8 oz packages of Cream Cheese, softened

1 can Cherry Pie filling (click here for homemade Cherry Pie Filling ).

Fresh Berries of any Variety (Red, White and Blue and the goal for the Fourth of July Pies)

Baked Pie Pastry Stars

Instructions:

1. Bake Pie Pastry shells.  Allow to cool.
2. Make Pudding and allow to cool.
3. Using a hand held mixer, mix cream cheese until smooth.
4. Pour pudding slowly into cream cheese mixture and blend until all is smooth
5. Pour mixture into pie shells.
6. Refrigerate until pudding is firm.
7. Top with fresh fruit or Pie filling.
8.  Serve and Enjoy.

  Makes two 8- 9 inch pies
 

Homemade Vanilla Pudding 

Ingredients:
2 cups organic milk
1/2 cup organic cane sugar or Stevia to taste… yep just put your finger in there and taste test (or you can use coconut sugar or sucanat as well; I used cane sugar to maintain a white appearance for these particular pies).
3 tablespoons tapioca flour or non-GMO cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla or Almond extract
1 tablespoon butter (organic grass-fed if possible)

Instructions:
1. In medium saucepan, combine sugar, tapioca and salt.
2. Add milk, a little at a time, stirring to dissolve.
3. Cook and stir until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, allowing it to bubble     only lightly.
4. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and butter.
5. Cool slightly.
6. Pour into serving dishes.
7. Chill before serving.
Serves 4

Okay, so here they are: the flops, maybe you can gain something from my failures.

It was a fun idea, and started to look as if it would work......

 

I made pie crust, and used Traditional Blueberry and Cherry Pie fillings;  I did really like how they looked before they were baked.

   I felt very happy about their patriotic beauty....

...but the filling became too bubbly and splattered over everything...

.....it looked like there had been a massacre.  A terrible mess, wouldn't you agree?

 

No, these pies could not be presented for the Fourth of July... we must eat the evidence and start over.

I decided if I were to do this again, I would pre-bake the pie shells as I did for the big pies, and pre bake the top shells as I did the little stars, and put the pie filling in and either leave it un-baked, or slightly bake it in the pre-baked shell.  I didn't think of that until I had done two batches, and I was a little tired of it by that time, and went with the big pies instead. So there you have it, Patriotic Pie Work shop.  Have fun.

Have a wonderful Fourth of July, 

and

 Happy Baking Everyone... and may your pies never look like a terrible " Massacre".