Custard Pie with Berry Topping Recipe

My husband loves fruit tarts, so I made him one for his birthday last year using fresh berries from our garden. I made a custard pie filling with almond milk (back when Sam was drinking almond milk before her sensivity developed), my Vegan Shortbread pre-baked pie crust, and made a fresh berry topping with the blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries from our garden. It was an incredible birthday pie (we ate half of it in one sitting!) and he's requested it again this year. Unfortunately, only the strawberries are ready to pick right now from our garden this year, so I bought raspberries at a local farmer's market this time to go along with our strawberries. I also used cow's milk (1%) this time, so the recipe is versatile in that way. We love this pie!

Custard Pie with Berry Topping Recipe

For the pie crust:

1 Vegan Shortbread pre-baked pie crust

For the custard filling:

2 cups milk (any kind)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unbleached flour
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 egg yolks (beaten)

In a small container, combine 1/2 cup of the milk with the flour to make a slurry. Use a small whisk to be sure to get all of the lumps out of the flour. In a medium sauce pan, use the whisk to combine the rest of the milk, the sugar, vanilla, beaten egg yolks, and the flour slurry. When well combined, turn on the heat to Medium. Stir with the whisk constantly for 10 minutes over Medium heat. The custard should start to thicken at this point. Turn the heat down to Low and slowly stir with the whisk for 5 more minutes. The custard should be a pudding consistency now. Remove from heat. Pour the custard into the pre-baked pie crust and let it cool for 10 minutes. Cut out a wax paper circle the size of the top of the pie and set it over the custard. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before adding the topping.

For the berry topping:

2 cups of a mixture of berries -OR- just one type of berry

Wash and dry the berries. For strawberries, cut them in half if they are small, and cut them in quarters if they are large. For raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, just keep them whole.

Remove the wax paper from the custard and spread out the berry mixture over the top of the set custard pie. Keep pie in the refrigerator until ready to serve.


Happy Birthday, Richard!