Cherry Red Raspberry Pie

Can she make a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Bill!y Boy?
Can she make a cherry pie, Charming Billy?
She can make a cherry pie,
Quick as a cat can wink an eye,
She's a young thing
And cannot leave her mother.

I'm no young thing, and I've long since left my mother, but I made a cherry pie and it was awesome! (/Chris Farley)

For the recipe, I will thank Phyllis Bartholomew for her "Best of Show" Cherry Red Raspberry Pie. And as we all know, if your name if Phyllis, chances are, you can make a mean pie. Pie to me is a celebration of the past, a hallmark of a good cook, and a most virtuous dessert (Hey, you're eating fruit with pastry. How bad can it be?). When paired with ice cream or whipped cream, it has all the components of a great dessert: warm/cold, creamy/crispy, and tart/sweet.

Sorry chocolate satin and banana cream, but this is everything a pie should be. Tart and sweet, the raspberries give the filling an richer taste (although many didn't notice the raspberry) and a pretty dark red color.

Cherry Red Raspberry Pie

Filling
1 10-oz pkg. frozen red raspberries
2 c. canned sour pitted cherries, drained (reserve juice) (Note: 2 cans of cherries equals about 2 and a half cups. I added the extra 1/2 c. cherries.)
1 c. sugar
3 T. cornstarch (If you like your filling to hold up more, add another T of cornstarch.)
2 T. butter
1/4 t. salt
milk and sugar (to top the crust) (I used 1 egg whisked with 1 T cream instead of milk.)

Thaw frozen berries (save the juice) and add enough of the juice from the cherries to make one cup of liquid.

In a saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in one c. of the cherry/raspberry juice. Add cherries and cook over medium heat until thick and clear. Cook one more minute. remove from heat and very gently fold in raspberries. (Note: I did this the day before and cooled in the fridge.)

Pour into pastry-lined pie dish. Add top crust. Seal edges and brush top with milk or cream and sprinkle with sugar. Cut seam vents if necessary. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Crust
2 c. flour
1 c. cake flour
2 T. sugar (This is my addition. I like a little sweetness in the crust.)
2 T. super rich butter powder (I did not have this, but swapped out 1/2 of the shortening for butter.)
1 c. Crisco (I used 1/2 shortening, half butter that had been cut up and frozen for a few minutes.) 1 T. cider vinegar
1/2 t. salt
1/3 c. ice water

Mix the flours and sugar and cut in the shortening and butter (I use a food processor). Pulse or mix until you have butter pieces the size of peas.

Beat together wet ingredients. Gradually add until mixture begins to look like curdled cheese. Stop before the dough forms a ball around the blade. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill at least 1 hour.