Raspberry Sour Cream Pie

My friend Tanya Tandoc had the brilliant idea of hosting a "Pie Party", (which she wrote about on her great new blog). And since Tanya is queen of all good food, I knew that if I was going to appropriately contribute to the occasion, I would have to bring something really yummy. It was good encouragement to finally try this pie crust recipe from my wonderful cousin Bethany's blog.


Bloggity-blog-blog, right?! (This is what happens when you are surrounded by creative people, you sit and look at their blogs and soak up all their wonderful thoughts and ideas and get inspired to create as well, but then it's time to go to bed. Or is that just me?)


So anyhow, back to the pie...

This is a recipe from my days as the kitchen manager at the "Riverside Cup of Tea". I have the fondest memories of working there. Even though the kitchen was tiny, it was packed full of some of the sweetest dear-hearts ever. This is one of the many delicious goodies that we would make, and it's recipe was in the cookbook that Linda Lamp (the owner) wrote.

Here goes.

Pastry for 1 crust pie (I ended up doubling this recipe because the crust recipe makes two crusts)
2 eggs (these quantities are not shown as doubled)
1 c. sugar
1/3 c. flour
1 1/3 c. sour cream (an entire 24 oz. container if doubled)
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. frozen raspberries, thawed (it's better with fresh berries if you've got them)

Streusel Topping:
1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. brown sugar, packed
3 T. butter
1/3 c. chopped pecans (or more)

Although the recipe doesn't say to, I prebaked the crust for about 5-6 minutes to be certain that it wouldn't get soggy. Who likes soggy crust?

 And it would have been a shame to waste the trimmings, right?

I was so excited about the cinnamon and sugar crustos that I forgot to photograph the first couple of steps. Beat the eggs. Add sugar and flour and beat.

 Beat in sour cream.

 (If you have Mexican vanilla, use it. I am sad this bottle that my brother Jason brought back from a trip umpty-nine years ago is now empty. That MUST mean that it is time to go back. Mexico anyone?)

 Add vanilla and beat in.

After washing the berries, I shook them a handful at a time to get the extra pools of water out.

Fold in raspberries.

 Pour into pie crust.

 Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

 I remembered that the last time I made this pie, there was a bubbling-over mess in the oven. So I put a cookie sheet underneath in case that happened again, which I'm glad to say it didn't. That cookie sheet wouldn't have caught everything.

 While the pie(s) is baking, mix together flour and brown sugar for streusel topping.

 Cut in butter.

 And add nuts.

 Play hide and seek while waiting for the pie to bake.

 Remove pie from oven,

 Top with streusel topping and bake 10 more minutes.