Strawberry Pie
A simple strawberry pie with a light and creamy filling. Use whatever type of crust you like. Two different versions are in the notes section.
Servings 8 slices
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch baked pastry, graham or pretzel crust
Filling
- ½ cup whole milk (120 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons unflavored gelatin
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 cup puréed strawberries (240 grams)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon strawberry extract, optional
- 1-2 drops red food coloring
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
Optional Garnish
- ½ cup whipped cream plus 2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ½ cup reserved whole strawberries for garnishing
Instructions
- Put the milk and sugar in a saucepan and sprinkle gelatin over the top. Allow it to soften for about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks together in a medium size bowl and set next to the stove.
- Heat the milk mixture over medium heat, whisking to dissolve gelatin and sugar.
- Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks, then pour mixture back into the saucepan and whisk over medium low heat for about 2-3 minutes or until thick and bubbly.
- Remove from heat pour into a mixing bowl. Stir in puréed strawberries, extract, lemon juice and a drop or two of red food coloring so it will be a pretty shade of pink. Cover bowl and place in refrigerator for about two hours or until mixture mounds when dropped from a spoon. Do not allow it to fully set. You'll want to check it and give it a stir about every 40 minutes.
- Whip the cream with the confectioners' sugar until stiff peaks just barely start to form, then fold together with the strawberry mixture. Spoon into the pie crust and chill at least 4 hours or until set.
- Before serving, whip more cream and sugar to pipe around the edges. Garnish with more strawberries.
Notes
9-inch pretzel crust: Melt 8 tablespoons of butter. Brush about a tablespoon of it over a 9-inch pie dish and chill the to set the butter. This makes the crust a little easier to remove. Grind about 4 cups (160 grams) of broken pretzels to make 1 ½ cups very fine crumbs. Pour into a large bowl and stir in ¼ cup (50 grams) sugar. Add remaining melted and cooled butter. Press into and up the sides of the greased pie dish. Freeze for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven, then set the pie crust on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until very lightly browned. Let cool completely.
9-inch graham cracker crust: Follow the same method but use 1 ½ cups of graham cracker crumbs, ⅓ cup of sugar, ¼ scant teaspoon salt and only 6 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter (plus a little more for the pan). Omit the salt if using salted butter.