My baby girl, Project Pastry Love, just turned 5 years old on April 12th. It’s crazy to think she’d be getting ready for Kindergarten if she were human. I’m glad she’s not human because I don’t know how to style girls’ hair. I do know how to bake though. My original intention when creating Project Pastry Love was to become an expert in baking, and even though I cannot call myself an expert yet I have learned so much about the pastry arts since beginning this blog.
There have been some surprises, however, that I didn’t anticipate when I launched Project Pastry Love back in 2014. Firstly, I’ve become a writer! I enjoy writing about the happenings in my life within the opening paragraph of each blog post. More often than not, these stories have had nothing to do with the recipe being featured. Well, this has led the path to writing articles for Mommikin, and Shore Monthly Magazine.
The second surprise is that through Project Pastry Love I’ve stumbled into my own two-bit, make-shift, what the heck am I doing? wild wild west baking business. I only wanted to show you what I baked and what I had learned from that dessert. It didn’t even cross my mind to sell it to you, but well… here we are. And it’s pretty damn cool.
Lastly, and the sweetest surprise of them all, is that on several occasions now friends and acquaintances will text me a photo of something they baked themselves. The text usually begins with, “I hardly ever bake, and I’m embarrassed to show you this, but I just made this dessert and I’m so proud of myself.” I always text back that their dessert looks glorious and yummy. And it does. Always (homemade is best). What they don’t know is how truly honored I feel that they wanted me to see their sweet creations.
When I started Project Pastry Love I never dreamed that any of this would happen.
So, in honor of our birthdays (I turned 43 on June 4th), I made a strawberry pie. I made a strawberry pie that had a buttery crust, and a luscious strawberry filling. Shoot, I made this strawberry pie twice- it was so nice… and I needed to get it just right. For you.
I adapted this recipe from House Of Nash Eats. I was intrigued by the absence of Jell-O, which is found in lots of strawberry pie recipes. As with most fruit pies it is best not to serve immediately out of the oven. The filling needs time to set, otherwise you’ll have a soupy mess. I served my strawberry pie 12 hours after baking (I left it to cool at room temperature), but you could chill this pie for 3 hours and it would be fine. Let’s do it! Begin by hulling 8 cups of strawberries.
Next, and an important part in this recipe, is the strawberry sauce. It will give the filling that special consistency needed in a strawberry pie. In a medium sauce pan, bring to a boil a cup of pureed strawberries, cornstarch, sugar, and water. Stir until the sauce thickens, becomes slightly translucent, and reaches a temperature of 185º F. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Once the strawberry sauce has cooled, mix it with the remaining hulled, and sliced strawberries. Next, fill an unbaked pie shell with the glazed strawberries. You can use my double crust pie pastry.
Top with pastry, and make the design your own. I call this one Character Actress. She’s no leading lady, but she sure is a scene stealer.
Bake in a 400º F. oven for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350º F. and continue baking until golden brown (about 30 more minutes).
Celebrate this glorious pie with the people you love. Happy Birthday to Project Pastry Love and to me!
Notes
Special equipment: Saucepan, candy thermometer, baking sheet, kitchen scissors
Ingredients
- Double-crusted Pie Pastry
- 8 cups (948 g) Fresh Strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced
- 3/4 cup (150 g) Sugar
- 3 TBS Cornstarch
- 1/2 cup Water
- Egg Wash (egg mixed with 1 tablespoon of water)
- Coarse Sugar
Instructions
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the pie pastry into a rough 12-inch circle. Gently fit it into your 9-inch pie plate. Trim off any excess, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Roll out the other pastry half into a rough 12-inch circle. Place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
- Puree one cup of the strawberries in a food processor, or blender.
- In a medium-sized sauce pan, whisk together the cornstarch, and the sugar. Add the water, and strawberry puree. Over medium heat, bring to a boil. Be sure to whisk constantly. The sauce is ready when it has thickened, and becomes somewhat translucent. Use a candy thermometer. When the temperature of the sauce reaches 185 degrees F. remove it from the heat. Set aside to come to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F., and place a large baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven.
- Mix the cooled sauce with the remaining hulled and sliced strawberries.
- Fill the chilled pastry shell with the glazed strawberries.
- Top with the other pastry. Trim and flute the edges. Cut out decorative vents. Brush with an egg wash, and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Bake that beauty for 15 minutes, then bring the temperature down to 375 degrees. F. Continue to bake until golden brown (about another 30 minutes or so). Put foil around the edges or top if it looks to be browning too much. The goal is to get the bottom of the pie completely baked, and the juices bubbling (you should see bubbling through the vents).
- Okay, here's the tough part... cool the pie for a couple hours in the refrigerator, or better yet overnight covered at room temperature. The filling needs to set, otherwise you'll have yourself a soupy pie. A very delicious, but soupy pie.
- Enjoy!
