Treats & Trinkets: Berries & Cream Pie- A #SundaySupper Summer BBQ

This week's #SundaySupper is hosted by my girl Jennie, The Messy Baker, and is focusing on barbecue recipes.

And I made pie. Which is not actually made on the barbecue, but can be served at barbecues. Because somebody's got to bring the dessert, and let's face it, that somebody is usually me.

When I think of barbecues, I think of my family's annual barbecue. Every year we all go to my Uncle Hugo's house in Brooklyn and we sit in the backyard patio, or swim in the pool, and the kids race the horses (not real ones. Do I really have to explain this again? Because it makes less sense every time I talk about it), and we just gorge ourselves on all the favorites: rice balls and pasta and good Italian sausage and Aunt Sophie's potato pie. There are burgers and hot dogs and steak, too, but those always feel like an afterthought. Or maybe that's just me, since I've never been a huge meat eater and why bother with a hot dog if I can have another helping of potato pie instead, y'know what I mean?

So when I think of barbecues, I think of all that good, heavy food, and sitting out all day in that blistering Brooklyn heat, with the smoke from the grill and the citronella candles. So for dessert, you really just want something simple and refreshing. And what could be more simple or more refreshing than berries and cream? I just put it in a pie crust.

Now, I've seen plenty of strawberries and cream pies out there that use cream cheese, but I've never been a huge cream-cheese-in-desserts fan. Put it on a bagel, or make a veggie dip with it, that's fine. But make it sweet and I'm more likely to pass. So for a while now, I had been playing around with this idea of using sweetened condensed milk and cream- like the 2 ingredient ice cream that you see all the time on Pinterest-, and had originally intended it to be just strawberries with an Oreo crust and a chocolate drizzle. Then I found some blueberries and refrigerated pie crusts, and ended up with an unintentionally patriotic pie. Perfect for any 4th of July barbecues.

And let me tell you, it was a good thing that I ate this slice that I photographed, because otherwise I don't think I would have gotten any. This pie was gone in the blink of an eye. It's so simple- just fresh berries, a little bit of raspberry jam, and the sweetened cream filling- but still so irresistible. Simple, classic, and delicious.

Although I would recommend going with the original plan and using a cookie crumb crust because the pastry crust got soggy a little too quickly. A cookie crumb crust would hold up better, I think. Or, you could prevent it from getting soggy by nixing the raspberry jam. You can always add fresh raspberries instead. I didn't have fresh, I didn't want to got to the store, and I had raspberry jam, so my crust got soggy. C'est la vie.

Berries & Cream Pie

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients
1 9-inch pie crust, baked and cooled
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 cup diced strawberries
1 cup blueberries
1/3 cup cold water
1 packet (1 tbsp.) unflavored gelatin
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions
Heat the raspberry jam for a few seconds in the microwave to acheive a good, spreadable consistency and evenly spread it on the bottom of the pie crust. Add the strawberries and blueberries

In a small saucepan, add the water and gelatin and let soften for 10 minutes. After the gelatin has softened, heat on low until it has completely melted. Add the sweetened condensed milk to a large mixing bowl, and mix in the melted gelatin.

In a separate bowl with electric beaters, whip the cream on high speed until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the sweetened condensed milk. Spread the cream mixture evenly over the berries. Top with more berries, if desired, then chill minimum 2 hours before serving.

Recipe by Kim