They spent a few days, on and off, during the summer, picking black raspberries for the pie. We didn’t have enough berries for a full pie (those lousy drenching rains all spring!), so we added some pear to the batch. The pears were a bit mushy (having been frozen), but the pie was delicious. And the berries were EXQUISITE. I say “were” because the pie was gone in about 20 minutes.

I love how they made a pear in the center. My son did a terrific job of crafting it, and my daughter carved it out. It was such a beautiful pie! (Livvy the cat thought so, too).

While I didn’t add much sugar to the pie, this thing will still make you reach for the fastest working weight loss supplements, if you know what I mean. The lack of strong sweetness makes this pie perfect with a cup of tea, or a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

Pear Berry Pie
makes 1 9-inch pie

2 pie crusts (I use store-bought)
3 cups peeled, slices pears
3 cups berries
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon molasses
2 Tablespoons tapioca
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt

Gently mix the ingredients. Dump into a prepared pie crust. Seal with a top crust. Poke holes or slits into the top, to allow steam to escape.

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Serve warm with ice cream or cold with hot sweet tea.

Raspberry Cheesecake Pie

2 packages (8 ounces each) Neufchatel cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

1 chocolate graham pie crust

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

Unwrap the Neufchatel cheese and place in a large mixing bowl. Stir it up just a little until it’s a little creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the eggs and beat on low speed with your electric mixer until it’s combined. Pour the mixture into the chocolate crust. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes until the center is set. Allow to cool COMPLETELY– refrigerate it over night.

In a saucepan, add the cold water and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Allow to stand for a minute. Turn on the stove and cook on LOW, stirring, until the gelatin is dissolved. Add the jam, and stir. Put the saucepan contents into a small container and set in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to cool.

Take another mixing bowl (yeah, we use a lot of dishes for this one, sorry) and measure in the heavy whipping cream. Beat it until it begins to thicken. Add the confectioner’s sugar and keep beating…. yes, keep beating…. *pant pant* not done yet…. keep beating until stiff peaks start to form.

Remove about 1/2 cup of the beaten (beat? beated?) cream and set aside to use as a garnish. Cover it and put in the fridge. Take out the gelatin/raspberry mixture and fold in the whipped cream into it– very gently. Spread this over the cheesecake. Garnish with whipped cream. Add a few raspberries and maybe a twig of mint, too. DEVOUR!!!

oh nuts, did you forget to take photos??