Mini Raspberry Cream Pies

I can be a little prideful about my cooking, which sometimes leads me to be competitive when there isn’t really even a competition. To kick off Spring Break, our son’s preschool had a teacher appreciation lunch provided by the parents. I was quick to sign-up this time since last time I was late in the game and my culinary prowess was wasted on slicing green onions. Logically, I signed up to bring a dessert as it gave me the best chance to shine. 

While I jest a bit, I really did want to make something special and delicious, not to mention cute since the staff is 100% female. I’m still under the spell of my latest creation, so I quickly decided a mini version was in order. The mini version takes a little more time, but really the hardest part was keeping grubby little fingers out of them. When I delivered a tray of these beauties at preschool pickup today I walked in with my head held high. Nothing to be embarrassed about here.

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Mini Raspberry Cream Pies

Bite sized raspberry cream pies with a touch of chocolate to round out perfection.

Course Dessert

Servings 24 mini pies

Author Audrey

Ingredients

• 1 pie crust
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate
• 2 tsp coconut oil optional
• 1/4C +2TBSP sugar
• 2 TBSP cornstarch
• dash salt
• 1 egg
• 1 C +2TBSP whole milk
• 1/4 C raspberries
• 1 TBSP butter
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• whipped cream for topping optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425ºF. Place a mini cupcake pan upside down on the counter. Roll out your pie crust. Use a glass that fits around the cups of your pan to cut circles out of the dough. Lay the circles over each inverted cup and gently mold it around the cup’s curves. Once you’ve cut the dough into as many circles as possible, gather into a ball and roll out again. Repeat as necessary. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cups are golden brown.
  
• Pull the pie crusts off the pan and allow to cool. In the meantime, put the chocolate and coconut oil, if using, into a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 30 seconds and then stir. Heat for another 30 seconds and stir again. Repeat until the chocolate is smooth and fully melted. Using a rubber spatula or a pastry brush, spread the chocolate evenly over the bottom and sides of each crust. Put in the freezer.
• In a medium sized saucepan, mix the sugar, pinch of salt, and cornstarch. Measure the milk and whisk the egg into it. (If your measuring cup is big enough, you can save yourself a bowl.) Add to the saucepan along with the raspberries and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally at first and with increasing frequency as the mixture heats up. The raspberries will continue to break up, which is what you want. Once the mixture has reached a boil, cook for two more minutes. (The mixture will thicken.) Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla. Spoon into the prepared crusts. Refrigerate until cold, at least two hours.
• If desired, top with whipped cream.

Notes

This recipe can also be made using a regular sized muffin tin instead of a mini muffin tin. This will produce a higher filling to crust ratio which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.