Lovers Raspberry Cream Pie

Lovers Raspberry Cream Pie
Dorcas Annette Walker



Valentine’s Day is the time of year when thoughts revolve around ones sweetheart. In our culture hearts, valentines, roses, and candy, have become symbols of expressions of love. I remember as a young bride baking a heart shaped cake. Later on I made a red velvet cake for Valentine’s Day. Somewhere along the line my valentine cakes evolved into a red, cherry cheese pie. Then I discovered what I call Lovers Raspberry Cream Pie and fell instantly in love.

Some claim that our valentine holiday originated from the pagan Roman fertility celebration where boys drew names of girls and the couple exchanged gifts on the festival’s day. Another theory is that Valentine’s Day began with the Norse who had a St. Galantin- the G pronounced with a V sound- while the French say that the word valentine comes from their word galantine meaning lover or gallant. Germany is credited with creating fancy elaborate borders in the eighteenth century that make up our valentine cards today. Italy had a spring festival where young singles gathered in gardens to listen to love poetry and romantic music. In England it was the custom for young men to draw a girl’s name to be his valentine for the next year. In 1477 Margery Brews from England sent the oldest known written valentine to John Paston. The celebration of Valentine’s Day did not come to America until 1629 against strong opposition by church elders. One hundred years passed before it became common to leave valentine notes at the doorstep of your sweetheart.

Red raspberries are perfect for a valentine dessert with their bold red color. They belong to the rose family and are considered a delicate fruit. The scent of the raspberry has been described as being the most perfumed among its sort of fruits and its flavor as rich and exotic. In medieval Europe the juice of the wild berries were used for paintings and manuscripts. By the seventeenth century British gardens abounded with berries. The settlers dried berries for preservation and ease of transportation. George Washington cultivated berries in his extensive gardens and by 1867 over forty different varieties were known. Today the leading producers of raspberries are Washington, Oregon, and California with Washington producing sixty percent of the crop topping nearly 70,000,000 pounds per year.

Today I have my own raspberry canes. They are hearty, easy to grow, and will produce continuously up to the first frost. I love freezing raspberries fresh off the vine to use throughout the year. Lovers Raspberry Cream Pie is an easy dessert to make. The smooth, creamy filling is topped by a distinctive raspberry topping making it a feast for both the eye and taste buds. Preparation time for the Lovers Raspberry Cream Pie equals around fifteen to twenty minutes and serves eight.

Lovers Raspberry Cream Pie

1 baked deep dish 9 inch pie shell

Raspberry Topping
½ pint red raspberries
¾ c sugar
2 tb corn syrup
½ c water
3 tb cornstarch mixed with ¼ c water
Cook in saucepan until thick and clear. Set aside to cool.

Cream Filling
2 pkg cream cheese
1 c sugar
8 oz container cool whip
Beat together with mixer until smooth- will be stiff. Spoon in bottom of cooled pie shell. Pour cooled raspberry topping over cream filling. Chill for 2 hours before serving.

Dorcas Annette Walker is a freelance writer, author, columnist, and photographer from Jamestown, TN. If you have any cooking tips or favorite recipes you are welcome to contact me by mail at: Dorcas Walker, 929 Wildwood Lane, Jamestown, TN 38556 or email me at: dorcaswalker@yahoo.com. For more information about the Walker family and Dorcas’ books check out her website at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com or htpp://dorcasannettewalker.blogspot.com for other Creative Mountain Cookin recipes.