A Special Valentines Dessert Recipe

A special homemade Valentines dessert. Baking a homemade dessert is a very thoughtful and special Valentines idea. Whether celebrating with Hubs, boyfriend, girlfriends or family everyone loves Valentines dessert. My other half much prefers baking to any gift I give him, and when I create something special like this mixed berry with lemon custard pie, he swoons.

As it is so close to Valentines I decorated the pie with sugary pie crust hearts and whipped cream, but this mixed berry pie recipe is good any time of year. You can also make it with fresh or frozen berries.
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Homemade Pie Crust

You can always use a purchased crust or your own favourite crust recipe, but this is my go-to recipe. It makes enough for three pies, I used 1/3 and froze the rest. If you want more step by step instructions on the pie crust, here is my step by step pie crust tutorial (with video).

Pie Crust Ingredients

Mix the flour and salt in large bowl. Add and cut in the lard until pea sized bits form.

Place an egg and vinegar into a 1 cup sized measuring cup. After the egg and vinegar are added fill the same cup up to the top with very cold water. Mix well. Sprinkle the egg mixture over the flour mixture and gather it into a ball of dough.

Roll out a single pie crust, place in pie pan and set aside.

Roll out another pie crust and using a small heart shaped cutter cut out a couple dozen heart shapes. Layer the hearts around the outside edge of the pie, brush with a little milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Take any remaining hearts, dab with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake with the pie removing when golden.

Line your pie crust with parchment paper and pie weight or use dried beans.

Bake your pie crust at 400F for about 20-25 minutes, the little hearts take about 10 minutes.

Cooked Mixed Berry Pie Filling

Now that the pie crust is baked, lets make the cooked mixed filling.

Ingredients for Mixed Berry Pie Filling

Blueberries, strawberries (raspberries) and blackberries totally 5 cup in total (any mixture of the berries works as long as you end up with 5 cups.

3/4 cups sugar

2 tbsp minute tapioca

Place the berries and sugar into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until warm and the sugar begins to melt. Sprinkle with the tapioca and cook until thick, stirring occasionally. Cooking takes about 10 minutes.

Pour into the pie shell until 2/3 full.

Set your pie aside to cool.

You can make the mixed berry pie, stop here and skip the lemon custard. Instead cover with the berry filling with prepared whipping cream or cool whip. Decorate with the sugary pie crust Valentines.

Lemon Custard

Custard is delicious and easy to make but you need to stay close and watch it. That is a challenge for me as I tend to walk away from the stove multitasking on something. Custard is very much worth the time.

The second layer of light lemon flavoured custard is creamy.not too sweet and the flavour blends really well with the tartness of the berries.

Ingredients for Lemon Custard

Take a small bowl and mix together the sugar, cornstarch, and four egg yolks.

In a medium heavy bottom saucepan, add  2 cups of milk and the lemon zest (I used the remaining 2/3 of the zest of a lemon).

Once warm place half the milk into the egg mixture and whisk together.  Once mixed pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan.
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Continue to warm the custard stirring constantly (takes about 20 minutes).

Pour on top of the mixed berries and let cool.

Top with dollops of whipped cream and the pie crust heart cutouts.

jThis pie really is spectacular and a special treat.  I love it because it’s pretty and not too sweet.

Pin this Pie Recipe Its Delicious!

Mixed Berry Pie with Lemon Custard

A not too sweet dessert for a special occasion like Valentine’s Day

Print Recipe

Prep Time:1 hour hr

Cook Time:1 hour hr

Total Time:2 hours hrs

Ingredients

Pie Crust Recipe

• 5 ½ cups flour
• 2 tsp walt
• 1 pound large
• 1 tsp fresh grated lemon zest
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 beaten egg
• water
• Sprinkle icing sugar

Bumbleberry Filling

• 5 cups blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries. Any mixture of the three berries totaling 5 cups.
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp minute tapioca

Lemon Custard

• 4 egg yolks
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 lemon zested
• 2 cups milk

Instructions

Pie Crust Recipe

• This pie crust recipe makes enough pie crust for 3 pies. Its my favorite and the remaining dough can be frozen.
• Mix the flour, salt and lemon in a large bowl.  Add and cut in the lard until pea-sized bits form. 
• Place an egg and vinegar in a 1 cup size measuring cup.  Fill with very cold water and mix.  Sprinkle the egg mixture over the flour mixture and gather it into a ball of dough.
• Roll out your single pie crust first, line your pie pan with the crust and set aside.
• Roll out a second bit of pie dough. Using a small heart-shaped cutter, cut out a couple dozen heart shapes. 
• Layer the hearts around the outside of the pie, brush with a little milk and sprinkle with sugar.
  

Mixed Berry Pie Filling

• Place the berries and sugar into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until warm. 
• Sprinkle with the tapioca and cook until thick, stirring occasionally.  Cook for about ten minutes total.
• Fill the pie shell with the bumbleberry filling until 2/3 full.   Note:  My pie pan is large, you may find that there is extra bumbleberry filling left over.   (If so it makes a great topping for ice cream or pancakes.) Set your pie aside to cool.
  

Lemon Custard Topping

• Take a small bowl and mix together the sugar, cornstarch, and four egg yolks.
• In a medium heavy bottom saucepan, add  2 cups of milk and the lemon zest (I used the remaining 2/3 of the zest of a lemon).
  

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Canadian

Keyword: Valentine’s Dessert

Servings: 6

Other Valentine Dessert Ideas

Chocolate Cake for Valentine’s Day

This Valentine’s Day dessert starts as a chocolate cake mix. But then it gets an amazing strawberry icing like you haven’t had before. Its a special and easy to make Valentine’s Day Dessert.

A Valentine Dessert made with Strawberry Ice Cream

Valentine shaped sugar cookies are filled with strawberry ice cream filling and then frozen. These strawberry ice cream sandwiches are perfect for a make ahead dessert on Valentine’s Day