I have said it before, let me say it again – Strawberry pie is summertime magic. Now you can approach the whole strawberry pie thing one of three ways.
- Pick up a pie at your favorite bakery
- Grow your own strawberries (or visit a pick your berry farm), bake your own pie shell completely from scratch, make your own shimmering glaze and whip your own cream.
- Get what you need from your local grocery store, and with just a bit of effort, make strawberry pie.
Only one of these options is utterly and completely foolproof. Can you guess which one? Oh, but what’s the fun of option one. Option two has so many pitfalls, I cannot even begin to list them all. And time – it takes time.
If you are up for a small challenge (that would be the baking blind thing) and want to put your own finishing touches to your pie, option three is your best bet.
Why is this recipe foolproof? Simply – everything is packages, store-bought and all you need to do is bake the pie shell, glaze the berries and put the pie together. The most difficult task is blind baking the shell, and even that is not so difficult – the rest is as easy as pie. Once assembled, simply chill until just before serving. Finish your masterpiece with a few shots of whipped cream, and there you go.
Foolproof Strawberry Pie
1 Refrigerated Pie Crust, Pillsbury
1 Basket Fresh Strawberries, organic
1 Container Strawberry Glaze, Marie’s
1 Can Extra Creamy Whipped Cream, Reddiwip
Remove one pie crust from package. DO NOT unroll. Let the crust stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
CAREFULLY unroll pie dough. Drape pie dough over a rolling-pin and position over pie pan. Lay dough into pan, pressing into place. Mend any cracks or imperfections by wetting your fingers with COLD water and pinching cracks together. To keep the crust from pulling away from the pan during baking, press it firmly against the sides and bottom of the pan. Be careful not to stretch the crust.
To prevent bubbles in an unfilled crust, generously prick the sides and bottom of the crust with a fork before baking. (Also known as “docking” the shell). Another option would be to use pie weights. This will prevent the empty shell from rising up and floating out of the pan. (Okay, so the shell really won’t float away, but it will puff-up. When filled, the crust will crumble if allowed to rise).
Place empty shell in the oven and bake until golden and flaky – about 12 to 15 minutes. Be sure to peek at 12 minutes and go from there.
Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. If pie weights have been used, remove as soon as possible without burning your fingers or fracturing the crust.
Let pie cool completely before filling.
While shell is cooling, wash berries. Trim green portions from berries and hull. Let berries dry on a paper towel. In a very large bowl, combine berries with glaze. Chill until ready to use.
When it comes time to fill the pie shell, you have one of two options. The first is to spoon all the berries into the shell in a big pile. The second is to fill the shell one berry at a time, beginning at the outer edge and working in a tight spiral to the center. Repeat if possible with a second or even third spiral, each one ring closer to the center.
Chill until ready to serve. When ready to serve, pipe a nice ring of whipped cream all around the outer circle, leaving the inner circle exposed to show off all those lovely berries.
Now you have all the makings for what has to be my favorite summertime meal –Dad’s Kabobs, Summertime Salad and this yummy pie.
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