Strawberry Cream Pie

This pie has a few steps but it’s very tasty. I’ve added my favorite crust recipe. You don’t have to use it. You could buy a pre-made crust or use your own favorite. The crust recipe makes 4 crusts at a time. I usually make the whole recipe, and just use what I need. I love freezing the dough for pies at a later time. It’s super easy, and all you have to do is thaw the dough on the counter for a few hours and you can make another pie. The filling recipe fills 3-4 pies depending on how full you fill them.

For the pie crust:

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar. Cut in shortening. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix egg, cold water and vinegar. Blend this into the flour mixture until it forms a ball. Try to handle the dough as little as possible. Recipe makes 4 single pie crusts so split the ball of dough into fourths. Again, I always make the whole recipe. If I have dough left over I just plop the extra dough ball(s) into a Ziploc and put them into the freezer.

For the strawberry pie you need to blind bake the crusts. That’s just pre-baking. I usually roll out the crust(s), put each into a pie pan and crimp the edges and then put another pie pan on top of the crust to bake it. That keeps the dough from slipping down the pie pan. The filling recipe below makes 3 pies so if you are making the entire batch, you’ll want to roll out 3 crusts. Bake at 375 F for about 15-20 minutes or until browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before filling.

For the cream filling:

This is pretty much just a no bake cheesecake.

Beat the cream cheese and condensed milk together until completely smooth. Gently fold in the whipped cream and pudding. This much cream filling filled three 9-inch pies really full. You could fill four easily with this much cream. You may just want to add a few more strawberries. Fill each cooled pie shell almost full of cream and then top with fresh berries that have been glazed (recipe below).

For the strawberry glaze:

I use this recipe all the time. It is so easy and cheap to make. No need to buy Danish Dessert anymore, but you totally can if you want.

This berry glaze will make enough to glaze the four pies or approximately 6 pounds of whole or halved strawberries. I usually use 1 1/2 pounds of strawberries per pie. It usually depends on how small you slice your berries. If you leave them whole the presentation is more dramatic, and you can use less berries. Put the prepared berries in a large bowl.

Combine all of the glaze ingredients (except berries) in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until mixture comes to a boil. Cool completely and add it to the fresh berries for a beautiful glaze.