Half-Baked Mixed Berry Cream Pie
A crisp, buttery baked almond crust filled with a light, fluffy no-bake honey cream cheese mousse, topped with a glossy mixed berry compote, fresh berries, mint, and a border of whipped cream rosettes. Only the crust goes in the oven, so the filling stays cool, creamy, and light.
Yield: One 9-inch pie, 8–10 slices · Active: 40 min · Total: 4–5 hours (mostly chilling) · Best in North America in summer, when berries are at their peak (frozen berries work for the compote year-round) · Best eaten: midday or early afternoon
Ingredients
Buttery almond crust
2 cups almond flour
¼ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
4 tbsp grass-fed butter, melted
1 tbsp raw honey or maple syrup
1 pasture-raised egg
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Honey cream cheese filling
8 oz cream cheese, softened
¼ cup raw honey
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon, plus 1 tbsp juice
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
¾ cup raw or grass-fed heavy cream, cold
Optional: 1½ tsp grass-fed gelatin, for firmer, cleaner slices
Mixed berry compote
3 cups mixed berries, fresh or frozen (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and chopped strawberries)
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp arrowroot mixed with 1 tbsp water
To finish
1 cup fresh mixed berries
½ cup raw or grass-fed heavy cream, whipped with 1 tsp honey
Fresh mint leaves and lemon zest
Optional: 2 tbsp toasted sliced almonds, for crunch
Method
Make and bake the crust. Heat the oven to 350°F. Stir the crust ingredients into a soft dough, then press it evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie dish. Prick the bottom with a fork and bake 15–18 minutes, until golden. Let it cool completely.
Make the compote. Simmer the berries, honey, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat 5–8 minutes, until the berries soften and release their juices. Stir in the arrowroot slurry and simmer 1 minute more, until thick and glossy. Let it cool completely; warm compote will melt the cream filling.
Bloom the gelatin (if using). Sprinkle it over 2 tbsp of the cream and let it sit 5 minutes, then warm it gently until dissolved. Let it cool slightly.
Make the filling. Beat the cream cheese, honey, vanilla, lemon zest and juice, and salt until smooth and fluffy (and beat in the dissolved gelatin, if using). In a separate bowl, whip the remaining cold cream to soft peaks, then gently fold it into the cream cheese mixture until no streaks remain.
Fill and chill. Spread the filling into the cooled crust and chill 2 hours, until set.
Top. Spread the cooled compote over the filling and chill 1–2 hours more.
Finish and serve. Pipe whipped cream rosettes around the edge, then pile fresh berries in the center and scatter with mint, lemon zest, and toasted almonds.
Make ahead: The pie (without the whipped cream and fresh berries) keeps up to 2 days refrigerated. Add the toppings the day you serve.
Storage: Refrigerated up to 3 days.
A note on honey: The raw honey in the filling stays raw, since it's never heated; the honey in the compote is cooked, so any good local honey works there. Raw honey shouldn't be given to babies under 12 months.
Nourishment Notes
Mixed berries — anthocyanins, vitamin C, ellagic acid, manganese, and fiber.
Cream cheese and raw cream — vitamins A, D, and K2, plus butyrate, from grass-fed dairy.
Pasture-raised egg — choline and fat-soluble vitamins.
Almond flour — vitamin E and magnesium.
Grass-fed butter — vitamins A and K2, plus butyrate.
Raw honey — enzymes and trace minerals, kept intact in the no-bake filling.
Grass-fed gelatin (if using) — glycine and proline.
As a circadian treat, this pie lands best at midday or in the early afternoon, when your body handles sweets most gracefully in daylight.
Sourcing
Berries — organic, from a farmers' market in summer, or organic frozen berries for the compote (conventional strawberries and blueberries can carry high pesticide residues)
Cream cheese — organic, full-fat, cultured cream cheese from grass-fed cows, with no gums or stabilizers
Heavy cream — raw from a farmer you know and trust, or organic, grass-fed, low-temperature pasteurized cream (Kalona SuperNatural)
Grass-fed butter — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows
Eggs — organic and pasture-raised
Almond flour and sliced almonds — organic and fresh (keep them in the fridge)
Raw honey — organic, local, and unfiltered
Grass-fed gelatin (optional) — from grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle, with nothing added
Arrowroot — organic
Mint and lemons — organic
Vanilla — organic pure vanilla extract
Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall