Lemon Raspberry Pie
Sweet, bright and tart lemon raspberry pie made of four components: a cinnamon oatmeal sucree crust, a smooth, creamy raspberry custard filling (made in one bowl - no need to temper any eggs), a layer of sharp lemon curd and a fluffy layer of crushed raspberry whipped cream..
Ingredients for Lemon Raspberry Pie
Fresh and Frozen Raspberries: For this recipe, I ask for both fresh and frozen berries. For the whipped cream, it’s really important you use fresh as they’ll have less water and won’t make the topping soppy. For the filling, I prefer frozen most of the year because they are guaranteed to be flavorful and they’ll be pureed and cooked. If you have raspberries in season that are really red and juicy, use those.
Sweetened condensed milk: This is milk that’s water content has been severely reduced and has been cooked with a bit of sugar. It’s a great shortcut to making any custard. And since this filling is made in the method of key lime pie, it’s my go-to. You can find it canned in the baking isles.
Egg yolks: These will help set the custard. No substitutes.
Heavy Cream: Or you may find it as heavy whipping cream. The difference between these two is fat content but both will whip up a lovely whipped cream.
How to make a Oatmeal ‘Pate Sucree’
You can do this in a food processor or in the bowl of a stand mixer. If you’re feeling particularly confident about your level of patience/arm muscle, you can even do it by hand. The goal is basically to get all the ingredients blended into a dough that when pressed, will clump together.
The trickier part of a pate sucree (sweet, shortcrust pastry crust) is getting it to bake sufficiently without breaking/shrinking/etc. A few things I like to do to prevent any of that:
- Freeze the crust before baking. 10 minutes is enough.
- Bake with a piece of parchment over it and add some pie weights. No need to fuss over it like you would a traditional butter pie crust, just enough weights to come up halfway is enough.
- Dock it and bake again; not until it’s fully baked (since it’ll be going back into the oven with the filling soon after) but until it isn’t doughy.
How to make Raspberry Custard (Raspberry Pie Filling)
This one is really quite easy, it starts with frozen (thawed) raspberries which are blended and sieved to remove seeds. The puree is mixed with sweetened condensed milk, a bit of lemon and some egg yolks which will help ‘set’ the custard and make it really smooth.
Make sure you press the puree through the sieve really well, you want to get as much of the raspberry juice and flavor as possible. The lemon isn’t necessary but helps brighten up the raspberry as it gets slightly muted by the milk and eggs.
Once you’ve got your smooth puree, whisk it with the yolks, lemon and sweetened condensed milk and pour it into the shell. The custard needs about 12 minutes to ‘set’ in the oven. Transfer it to the fridge and let it chill there for a few hours before serving and topping.
How to make Crushed Raspberry Whipped cream
First let’s talk about how to make a really stable whipped cream; there’s lots of tips out there: some say add cornstarch, some say add gelatin. I have found though that if you make it in a food processor it’s utterly creamy, smooth and sits perfectly for days on a pie without seeping.
So we’re just going to pour the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the food processor and pulse until it’s thick. This will happen in a matter of minutes, especially if your food processor is particularly strong and quick.
Then you’ll crush the raspberries with a fork and stir them into the whipped cream. Voila!
Variation: A cookies and cream raspberry pie
Make a chocolate pate sucree like the one in this peanut butter ganache pie, you can use black cocoa if you have it. Bake it with the weights/beans for 20 then pour in the raspberry custard and bake for another 12 minutes. Then, for the whipped cream, add crushed oreos in addition to or instead of the fresh raspberries.
Lemon Raspberry Pie Recipe
Lemon Raspberry Pie
Ingredients
Oatmeal Crust
- 2 cups quick cooking oats
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, unsalted
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Raspberry Custard
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk 396g
- 350 g frozen raspberries
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- pinch fine sea salt
- 1 cup lemon curd
Raspberry Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream 226g
- 1 teasopon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- pinch fine sea salt
- 1 cup fresh raspberries, crushed with a fork
Method
- To make the crust: In a food processor, add all of the ingredients and pulse until it begins to clump.
- Press the dough into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 9 or 10” round tart pan with a removable bottom. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to flatten it evenly. Set in the freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Lay a sheet of parchment paper over the crust and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 25 minutes. While it’s baking make the filling (below). At the 25 minute mark, remove the parchment and beans and dock with a fork. Bake for another 5 minutes.
- To make the filling: Once the berries are thawed (assuming you are using frozen), puree them with the lemon zest, then press through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl to remove the seeds, making sure you are scraping the bottom of the sieve for the thicker part. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine. Pour into the par-baked shell and return to the oven for another 12 minutes until the custard looks set (it won’t jiggle).
- Once the pie is mostly cool (you can chill it in the fridge to speed this up) add the lemon curd and return the pie to the oven for another 10 minutes. Chill the pie for at least an hour before proceeding.
- To make the crushed Raspberry Whipped Cream: In a food processor, add the heavy cream, vanilla and sugar and process for a few minutes until the cream is thick (careful not to overdo it). Crush the raspberries with a fork and fold them into the whipped cream. Top onto the pie. Serve immediately or store in the fridge for 24 hours.
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Thanks for the quick response! One more question: Will this work with regular oats? Is there an advantage to quick-cooking ones?
I think regular will be fine but I’d process them without the butter first to break them into bits, then add the butter and proceed.
Thank you for this. This looks awesome! I’ve made your raspberry brownie pie, which was a hit. I’m excited to make this one for Easter supper. One clarifying question: The way the recipe is configured, the ingredients for the raspberry custard include a cup of lemon curd. Is that mixed into the custard IN ADDITION to the separate layer of curd? Thanks in advance.
Hi Missy! The lemon curd is separate, once the raspberry custard has baked (it’s the same one from the brownie pie!) you spread the lemon curd on top and bake it again. The reason it looks like it’s part of the raspberry layer is that my recipe card won’t let me link ‘title’ ingredients so I had to include it there ;p
This recipe was a hit! Took it to a church function and came home with an empty cake plate. Has a variety of bright flavors that work well together. Good balance of tart, sweet, fresh and nice balance of texture. NOT too rich, sweet, or heavy! Loved the oatmeal/cinnamon crust. Will be trying the crust recipe as a base for other desserts. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Michelle that’s so wonderful to hear! I’m delighted you took the patience to make every layer, it’s time intensive for sure, and so so happy everyone loved it at your function!
Where can I find the lemon curd recipe portion of the recipe?
If you hover over ‘lemon curd’ you’ll see it’s a link that takes you to that recipe. You won’t need the full amount of it, so half would be fine.