Strawberries are my ALL time favorite fruit, which undoubtedly has to do with being surrounded by strawberry fields growing up. My hometown was very agricultural when we first moved there. And my summer childhood memories are filled with sunshine and strawberries. Here are a few:
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
During the summer, we had a strawberry pie at almost every special dinner. My parents’ anniversary and both of their birthdays are in the summer. And for many years of our childhood, my younger sister and I ‘cooked’ a celebratory meal for these events. Being the big sister, I had so much fun dressing up my younger sister as the server while I played the chef and ‘prepared’ the meal. Our hand-written menu always consisted of 2 items: honey chicken and strawberry pie. I honestly can’t remember how we cooked the chicken. It is very possible my Mom cooked it ahead of time for us. But I do remember that my Mom or Dad always drove us to buy the strawberry pie from our local Marie Callendar’s. And with all of our special dinners, we ate A-LOT of strawberry pie.
I ran track in elementary and junior high school. Several of our track meets took place at a school that bordered a strawberry field. My friends and I would peek through the fence and every once in awhile, a farmer would hand us a pint of fresh strawberries through the fence. We felt so lucky.
Every year around this time, my home county hosts the California Strawberry Festival. I remember going as a kid and being in awe of the strawberry shortcakes, strawberry ice cream, strawberry skewers with powdered sugar, strawberry glazed funnel cake, chocolate dipped strawberries, and plenty more. One year, I was so so excited because one of my favorite characters from the show Blossom was there (Yes, I loved that show). She was the character who spoke really fast and her name on the show was “Six”. Kind of weird how that ended up being my last name, right?! My Mom still has a picture of me getting her autograph.
With all the memories above, it’s hard to believe it took me so long to make my own fresh strawberry pie. I think it’s mostly because when strawberries in season, I just love eating them by the handfuls on their own. Hard to create something with strawberries when you’ve eaten them all!
For this recipe, I used a frozen pie crust. I do love to make my own crust when I have the time…it’s hard to beat doing it from scratch. But there are also a lot of great frozen pie crusts out there these days and you’ll receive no judgment from me for a purchased crust. After all, you are making the glaze. To make the crust a little extra special, I brush with egg wash before baking and sprinkle the edges with turbinado sugar.
The glaze itself is simple. You place strawberries that have been pureed with sugar into a saucepan and simmer with water and a starch. I used arrow root, but you can use cornstarch if you don’t have arrow root on hand (see my notes in the recipe below for the proportions). You simmer the pureed mixture until it thickens. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
Once the glaze is cooled, you coat your whole strawberries with it, place in your cooled pie crust and voila! Fresh Strawberry Pie! You can then top with homemade whipped cream (or store-bought) and impress everyone.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy!
Valerie
- 3 pints fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled (one cup of these will be used for the glaze)
- For the glaze:
- ¾ cup of sugar (If you are making when it is not strawberry season, I recommend increasing this to 1 cup since the berries aren't as sweet)
- ½ cup of water
- 1½ tablespoons of arrow root
- For the whipped cream:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Bake the pie crust according to recipe (usually 10-12 minutes) at 400 degrees. (Optional) I like to brush the crust with egg wash and sprinkle the edges with turbinado sugar.
- To make the glaze: In a blender, puree 1 cup of strawberries and the sugar. Then pour into a small sauce pan and add the water and arrow root. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture to high heat, then reduce to medium and simmer until it thickens (about 10 minutes). Pour the mixture into a bowl and place in the refrigerator until completely cooled (about 20 minutes).
- Place the strawberries in a large bowl, pour in the glaze and toss gently to coat.
- Add the glazed strawberries to your cooled pie crust. I like to place in the crust one by one upside down for a pretty presentation.
- Cut a slice and enjoy!
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