There is just something about fresh strawberries. Even thinking about them as I write this blog post is making me drool. When my daughter was young, my grandmother and I used to take her to a nearby strawberry farm and we’d spend Saturday morning picking strawberries. The deal was, at that time, that you got a big basket and whatever fit in the basket was a single price. So we spent as much time strategically placing all those strawberries as we did filling the baskets. Of course, there was a lot of sampling going on at the same time. Really, really great memories!
Why am I telling you this … well, that farm had THE BEST recipe for Fresh Strawberry Pie and they would give it to all their customers on a printed flyer as you paid for your produce. I made what was probably hundreds of those pies and the recipe never failed me once.
Many years have passed since then and the flyer with that pie recipe is long gone. I searched and tested and tried a lot of recipes since then and none of them was as tasty or as easy (or as foolproof) as the one I got from that Strawberry Farm … until now.
This recipe does exactly what I wanted it to do … it enhances the flavor of fresh strawberries without overwhelming it with sugary sweetness. There’s enough sweet to just counter-balance the tart, juicy flavor of all those fresh strawberries.
I prefer leaving the strawberries whole and just like I did in those picking baskets, strategically place all those strawberries to create an edible work of art! I recommend using a deep dish pie crust as I think it’s prettier that way. Deep dish pie crusts also makes sure that there’s enough room for the glaze to hold together slices of all those berries.
Grab some fresh strawberries and let’s get started!! And don’t forget that the sky is the limit. Just imagine this pie with strawberries AND blueberries!!
- 1 deep dish pie shell, pre-baked
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 (3 ounce) box strawberry Jell-O gelatin dessert (or 0.3 oz if using sugar free)
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1⁄2 cup water
- 2 lbs strawberries, washed and stems removed
- Bake deep dish pie crust according to direction and set aside to cool.
- Wash and hull strawberries, leave whole, and pat to dry as much as possible
- When pie crust is cool, start placing strawberries in shell stem side down. Arrange the strawberries so that the entire bottom and sides of the shell are covered and then set remaining strawberries aside to be added on top of the bottom layer once pie glaze is finished.
- Put 1 cup water and 1 cup of sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Mix 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/2 cup of water cold water. Keep stirred as it can lump back up quickly.
- Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the boiling sugar water.
- Whisk constantly until it become thick — about 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and whisk in Jell-O until dissolved and there are no lumps.
- Start spooning the glaze over strawberries until each individual berry is coated with glaze. Add more berries to the top as it becomes easier to place them. It’s like art! Fill all the nooks and crannies with strawberries or glaze until the glaze is even (or slightly under) the edge of the pie crust. Be careful not to add the glaze too fast or it will drip over the sides of the pie crust. If you go slowly, the glaze will begin to set up as your drizzle and build.
- Set in the fridge UNCOVERED until the glaze is set. But at least 1-2 hours.
- You can make this pie a day in advance (I don’t advise it), but after glaze is set, you need to cover it with plastic wrap so it doesn’t absorb the odors in your fridge.
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