Raspberry Cream Cheese Pie

By Christy

Sad but true, the end of summer is already upon us. The days of fresh fruit and vegetables at the grocery stores and farmers markets around Nashville are slowly coming to an end. That is why I was so excited about our category for this week: Baking with raspberries! This assignment gives me a heck of a good excuse to squeeze another summer recipe into my agenda before I officially big summer farewell.

In terms of baking, raspberries are kind of ambiguous to me. They are not one of my go-to's I guess you could say in terms of my past baking endeavors. Therefore, I did not take this task lightly! Google just wasnt' good enough for this challenge so I got out my biggest and best cook books and I didn't stop searching until I found "the one". LOL So here it :

Raspberry Cream Cheese Pie was the winner. Chocolate graham cracker crust, cheesecake like center filled with raspberries topped with a chocolate glaze... Sold and Sold!

This is definitley a go-to recipe if you want to make something that's original, and looks and taste impressive without paying the price of too much time in the kitchen or maxing out your budget. I mean really, you get the deliciousness of a cheesecake without the hassle of using a spring form pan. So get out there and use up the last of those fresh fruits and get baking! I promise you wont regret it with this recipe.
Have a SWEET day!
Christy

Raspberry Cream Cheese Pie:

Crust:

1 1/2 cups chocolate wafer/graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

Filling:

4 ounces cream cheese

1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teapsoon vanilla extract

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1 cup fresh raspberries

Chocolate glaze:

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 heavy cream

To make crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan. Combine the crumbs, sugar, and butter. Press the mixture onto the bottom and upsides of teh pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool 30 minutes before adding the filling.

To make the filling: In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, condensed milk, lemon juice, vanilla, and egg. Set aside. Layer the raspberries on top of the cooled crust. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the raspberries. Bake for 30 minutes.

To make chocolate glaze:
In a small saucepan place the chocolate chips and heavy cream over low heat, stirring constantly until the chips are melted. After you remove the pie from the oven, drizzle the glaze over the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Source: Bless Your Heart Cookbook by Caldwell and Wilson