I first made this pie for my family's Easter gathering a few years ago!

My family eats a very German meal for Easter; Sauerbraten, Knödel, Rotkohl. It takes my mom literally days of cooking and prep work to put together one of the best meals of the year.

She's a talented cook and can make complex recipes, but, she rarely made homemade pie crusts. She's made delicious pies and cheesecakes, but growing up I always thought the store-bought crusts were the way to go because if my mom didn't make it homemade, it must be impossible!

Well, friends. I'm here to tell you, and her, that making pie is easy as pie!

Easy Fresh Raspberry Pie

Pie Crust:

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup shortening

1 beaten egg

3 tablespoons ice-cold water

1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar

Filling:

2/3--3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like it!)

2 tablespoons instant Tapioca pudding

2 tablespoons cornstarch

5 cups fresh raspberries (frozen works fine too!)

Topping:

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. For the dough, mix the flour, sugar and salt together. Add the shortening. Mix with an electric mixer until the dough looks crumbly.

3. Beat the egg with the water and vinegar and add the wet mixture to the dough. Mix together until the dough is moist.

4. Separate the dough into two balls, making one a little bigger than the other. Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

5. While the dough cools, make the filling by first combining the sugar, tapioca and cornstarch. Stir until combined.

6. Add 5 cups raspberries and mix until all the berries are well coated. Let the berries sit in the mixture for about 10 minutes.

7. On a lightly floured surface, take the larger ball of dough and roll it out to fit a 9-inch pie tin (or if you're fancy use a pretty pie plate :) Press the rolled dough into the tin and flatten/trim the uneven edges.

8. Take the raspberry mixture and evenly distribute it into the dough-covered tin.

9. Take the second ball of dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface so it fit's the top of the pie. You can decide to place the rolled out dough on top of the pie, seal the edges by pressing, and cut three slits at the top OR you can do an easy, no over-under lattice that still looks gorgeous.

10. If you choose to do the lattice, cut the flattened second ball of dough into about 1 inch strips.

11. Press a fork into the sides of the strips and place them about an inch apart on the top of the pie, sealing and pressing the edges as you go. Do the same thing in the opposite direction to get the diamond lattice look.

12. Brush the crust with milk and evenly dust with sugar.

13. Bake the pie on a cookie sheet (in case of spillage) for 50-60 min.

14. Let the pie cool on a wire rack, or eat it hot and fresh! It also tastes wonderful after a night in the fridge and is easier to cut.