strawberry cream pie

Summertime is pie time, I feel like we can all agree on that. Shamefully, I haven’t really thrown a lot of pie posts at you guys so far. To be honest, great produce is just now starting to come in after an unseasonably cool and wet spring. As I’ve said in our post of jams, there’s no such thing as a recipe that should be made to use up fruit that isn’t good enough to eat on its own. Good pies are made with good fruit, and you should wait for the fruit near you to be perfectly ripe before you make one!

Now that we do have some great fruit to work with, I want to give you a recipe for a pie of sorts that features a long time favorite flavor combination of mine – strawberries and cream. Whether it’s in a trifle, strawberry shortcake, strawberry cheesecake, I just love that combo.

recipe notes
step-by-step method
recipe card

recipe notes

I fully bake the pie crust for this recipe since the fillings don’t require baking. My preferred method for this is as follows:

Line the raw pie shell with cheesecloth and then baking beans.

Bake the pie shell at 375F until the crust edge begins to take on a nice golden color.

Remove the pie shell from the oven and remove the cheesecloth with the baking beans.

Place a thin strip of tin foil around the edge of the pie shell, covering the crust edge. Watch those fingers, the pie tin is hot!

Place the pie shell back in the oven and bake until the whole crust is golden brown.

If the pie shell begins to bubble up from overwhelming flakiness, remove it from the oven and use the cheesecloth filled with baking beans like a little pouch and press the soft dough down before continuing to bake.

I mention it in the instructions but it’s worth mentioning twice: cover both the pastry cream and the strawberry mixture with plastic wrap touching the surface (which I refer to as “to touch”) before letting it cool and set. Skipping this step will create a hardened, dry skin on the layer that isn’t too pleasing to eat.

strawberry cream pie

For my pie dough recipe and my method for lining a pie tin, just click the link. I’ve included the pie dough recipe and method in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

pastry cream

500g whole milk
125g sugar
120g egg yolk
35g corn starch
20g vanilla extract
8g gelatin

Hydrate the gelatin in cold water before getting started.

Bring the milk and vanilla extract to a simmer over medium-low heat.

While the milk is heating up, combine the sugar, egg yolks and corn starch, whisking well.

Let the milk come to a simmer and add a small amount of it to the egg yolk mixture, whisking immediately.

Add the egg yolks back to the milk and return to the stove.

Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly.

As the starch heats up and the eggs begin to coagulate, the mixture will thicken quickly. Once the pastry cream thickens, cook it for 30-60 seconds more, continuing to whisk rapidly to prevent the eggs from over-cooking and turning scrambly.

Squeeze out the excess water from the hydrated gelatin and add it to the pastry cream, whisking well until homogenized.

Pour the pastry cream into the pie shell until 1/2 full and place plastic wrap on it to touch to prevent a skin from forming while it cools.

Place the pie in the cooler and let it chill until the pastry cream sets.

strawberry pie filling

500g strawberries A
200g strawberries B
20g vanilla extract
180g sugar A
60g sugar B
25g corn starch
9g gelatin

Hydrate the gelatin in cold water before getting started.

Quarter both strawberries A and B, keeping the quantities separated.

Combine sugar B and the cornstarch and reserve.

Combine strawberries A, sugar A and the vanilla extract in a sauce pot.

Heat the strawberries over low heat, stirring occasionally, until they release their juice. Don’t let the mixture come to a boil!

Once there is a good amount of juice in the pot, whisk in the sugar and corn starch mixture.

The liquid will appear cloudy after the corn starch mixture has been added.

Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking continuously once boiling, and cook for 1-2min.

Remove the mixture from the heat and add the gelatin and strawberries B.

Pour the mixture over the pastry cream in the pie shell.

Cover with plastic wrap to touch to prevent a skin from forming while the mixture cools.

Place the pie in the cooler and chill until the strawberries have set.

Decorate with fresh strawberries and dig in!

This pie recipe lends itself to lots of variations and should work with all kinds of fruit! If you decide to play around with it, let me know how it goes!

Cheers – Chef Scott

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strawberry cream pie

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Ingredients

pie dough

• 250 g pastry flour
• 5 g sugar
• 5 g salt
• 225 g butter unsalted
• 60 g water

pastry cream

• 500 g whole milk
• 125 g sugar
• 120 g egg yolk
• 35 g corn starch
• 20 g vanilla extract
• 8 g gelatin

strawberry filling

• 500 g strawberries A
• 200 g strawberries B
• 20 g vanilla exract
• 180 g sugar A
• 60 g sugar B
• 25 g corn starch
• 9 g gelatin

Servings:

Units:MetricUS Imperial

Instructions

pie dough

1. Cut the butter into 1/2" cubes and reserve in the freezer.
2. Combine the pastry flour, salt and sugar and mix until homogenized in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
3. Add the cold butter to the dry ingredients and mix until the butter is mostly incorporated into the dry ingredients, with large pads of butter still intact.
4. Add the cold water and mix until the dough is just combined. Finish by hand if needed.
5. For best results, let the dough rest for 1hr minimum and up to 24hrs.
6. Roll the chilled pie dough out to 1/8"/ 3mm thickness and line the pie tin.
7. Once the pie tin is lined, strike any excess pie dough off of the rim with a paring knife, slicing away from the tin.
8. Let the dough rest, uncovered, in the fridge for at least an hour, up to overnight.
9. Cover the lined pie shell with cheesecloth and fill with baking beans or rice. Par bake the pie dough at 350F/176C for 10min.

pastry cream

1. Hydrate the gelatin in cold water before getting started.
2. Bring the milk and vanilla extract to a simmer over medium-low heat.
3. While the milk is heating up, combine the sugar, egg yolks and corn starch, whisking well.
4. Let the milk come to a simmer and add a small amount of it to the egg yolk mixture, whisking immediately.
5. Add the egg yolks back to the milk and return to the stove.
6. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly.
7. Once the pastry cream thickens, cook it for 30-60 seconds more, continuing to whisk rapidly to prevent the eggs from over-cooking.
8. Squeeze out the excess water from the hydrated gelatin and add it to the pastry cream, whisking well until homogenized.
9. Pour the pastry cream into the pie shell until half full and place plastic wrap on it to touch to prevent a skin from forming while it cools.
10. Place the pie in the cooler and let it chill until the pastry cream sets.

strawberry filling

1. Hydrate the gelatin in cold water before getting started.
2. Quarter both strawberries A and B, keeping the quantities separated.
3. Combine sugar B and the cornstarch and reserve.
4. Combine strawberries A, sugar A and the vanilla extract in a sauce pot.
5. Heat the strawberries over low heat, stirring occasionally, until they release their juice.
6. Once there is a good amount of juice in the pot, whisk in the sugar and corn starch mixture.
7. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking continuously once boiling, and cook for 1-2min.
8. Remove the mixture from the heat and add the gelatin and strawberries B.
9. Pour the mixture over the pastry cream in the pie shell.
10. Cover with plastic wrap to touch to prevent a skin from forming while the mixture cools.
11. Place the pie in the cooler and chill until the strawberries have set.
12. Decorate with fresh strawberries before serving.

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