Razzleberry Pie Recipe

Homemade Razzleberry Pie with raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

There is no such thing as a razzleberry, but a well-made Razzleberry Pie is scrumptious! Growing up in Michigan we had easy access to tangy raspberries that grew on the farm. Plump and juicy blackberries that stained your fingers purple when you picked them in the woods were hard to get, but, if the season was good, were worth the scratched-up arms and legs to get a pail full. Blueberries were harder to find, usually only available in the wilds of northern Michigan, but our neighbor planted some bushes in his garden—they weren’t as sweet as the wild berries, but we made do! All three berries ended up in pies or tarts of some variation, but I don’t remember mixing them when we were kids.

I don’t know how it came up, but a recent visitor from Ohio mentioned that her family loved the frozen Marie Callender “Razzleberry” Pie. The pie included raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Berries were on sale in the supermarket so I decided that I would make my own version and include a new thickening agent, Carnaby’s Ultra Gel, which I had never used before. Supposedly this gluten free corn-based product will “instantly thicken sauces, gravies, desserts and more!” while providing a clear, non-starchy, consistency that will not leave a starchy aftertaste. I will vouch for it! My Razzleberry Pie turned out great. The consistency of the berry filling wasn’t watery or gummy, but smooth and thick and the flavor of the berries really stood out.

A Razzleberry Pie fresh out of the oven.

RAZZLEBERRY LATTICE PIE

INGREDIENTS:

1 double crust pie crust (I used Pillsbury Refrigerated crusts)

2 pints raspberries

2 pints blackberries

1 pint blueberries

3/4 to 1 cup sugar

1/3 cup Cornaby’s Ultra Gel (bought on Amazon)

1/3 cup water

1 egg

1 teaspoon milk

1 tablespoon sugar

Butter-flavor spray

DIRECTIONS:

Roll out one pie crust a 9” pie plate, sprayed lightly with butter-flavor spray. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Prepping the berries for pie.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil on the bottom oven rack.

Combine berries with 1/3 cup water. Stir together sugar and ultra gel, then mix thoroughly with berries.  Spoon berry mixture into bottom pie crust.

Cut remaining pie crust into one-inch lattice strips.

Place strips across the pie and then lift one end of every other strip and lay a new strip across the other way. Repeat with the other strips that were not originally lifted. Continue until you’re halfway across the pie then turn the pie around and repeat from the other side to make a lattice across the entire pie.

Whisk together the egg and water and then brush the top of the pie and immediately sprinkle with sugar.

Prepping the lattice crust for the berry pie. I was in a hurry and did a sloppy job.

Place pie in oven and immediately reduce heat to 375 degrees. Bake the pie for 25 minutes. Checking halfway through to see if the pie is browning properly. If necessary, place a piece of tinfoil around the edge of the pie and continue to bake for another 20-30 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and cool completely. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Note: Here's a pic of the package of Cornaby's Ultra Gel (They've changed the name to E-Z Gel but it's the same thing, which I used to thicken the pie. It worked great and I can't wait to try it in my apple pie recipe!