Berry Custard Pie

One day a few weeks back I was talking to my mother on the phone and somehow the conversation got around to pies, as they do . . . ☺



My mother always made the best pies going. When pie was on the menu, everyone in our family was a happy camper . . . and it didn't matter if it was a sweet pie or a savoury pie. All her pies were great!!



When I was 13, she had to go away for a weekend and she left me in charge of the kitchen. I had to do all the meals which was no problem. She had left a homemade Turkey Pot Pie for one of the meals. I thought I had divided it up equally amongst everyone . . . but I was accused of having taken the largest piece for myself, which I strongly denied, but which in retrospect I probably did! Isn't that the cooks prerogative??? (I was doing all the work, even if it was only heating it up and cutting it into servings!!!)



Anyways, back to our conversation and pies . . . we got to talking about blueberry pies. When I first moved over here to the UK, you could not find a blueberry for love nor money. Having grown up with an abundance of wild blueberries, they were something that I really, really missed over here. I was so happy when they started to appear in the shops. They may not be wild and they may come mostly from Poland (although more and more are being grown here), but I just love them, and they are so good for you!



My mom was saying that her mother (my grandmother) always used to make the custard variety of blueberry pie and I was intrigued when I thought about it afterwards . . . how delicious it sounded . . . blueberry custard pie . . . wowser, wowser!



I've been thinking about it ever since and today I came up with this tasty little gem. You don't have to use blueberries with it . . . you could use just about any type of berry you want, or a combination of several different types. Blueberries were what I had today though, and Blueberry Custard Pie was what I was dreaming of, and so that is what I made, in honor of my dear late grandmother.



It was fabulous! I think I have found a new ♥ favourite ♥ kind of blueberry pie! It may even become your ♥ favourite ♥ kind of blueberry pie. You never know! (Ice cream would go very well with this, but I didn't have any . . . sigh . . . )



*Berry Custard Pie*Makes one 9 inch pie
Printable Recipe

A delicious berry pie layered with berries, custard and a vanilla streusel on top!

You will need:
your favourite pastry recipe to line one 9 inch glass pie dish

For the Filling:
1 oz plain flour (1/4 cup)
10 ounces sugar (1 1/2 cup)
450g of berries (blueberries, raspberries, currants) about 3 cups
2 large free range eggs, beaten lightly
170g tin of evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed) (6 fluid ounces)
1/2 tsp vanilla

For the Streusel:
1.5 ounces of plain flour (1/3 cup flour)
3.5 ounces sugar (1/2 cup)
2 ounces butter, cut into bits (1/4 cup)
1/4 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line a 9 inch glass pie dish with your pastry, trimming and crimping the edges to please.

Put the berries into the crust. Whisk together the flour and sugar for the filling to mix. Sprinkle this evenly over the berries, stirring them up a bit to mix. Beat together the eggs, evaporated milk and vanilla. Pour this evenly over top of the berries and flour mixture.

Rub the streusel ingredients together until they resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over the berry filling.

Bake for about 1 hour in the heated oven until the pie is golden brown and set and the crust is nicely crisped.

Allow to cool at least two hours before serving. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.