Fresh Strawberry Pie- Delicious treat all Week

So, last Sunday, after going to the Mar Vista Farmer's Market to pick up some luscious strawberries, I was all pumped to bake my FIRST strawberry pie... but the day just escaped me.  So, it ended up being a Monday night baking mission instead.

I had tips in hand from @yvonneinla from the farmer's market, and looked up recipes to complement her strawberry pie baking tips.  I was particularly inspired by the strawberry page on cookinglight.com... and decided to modify one of the recipes I found there for the filling.

To make my weeknight baking mission a little easier, I used a store-bought mix for the crust this time around.  I decided on a pie crust mix by Gluten-free Pantry, which got many good reviews online.  The BEST part of it was, I still have more dough in the freezer that I can easily breakout for a family celebration planned for next week!

I was EXTREMELY excited about setting out on this baking mission, for a couple reasons-

1. First of all, I LOVE baked goods, but have never been as much of a baker as I am a cook.  For some reason, I've always been more attracted to the idea of experimentation with cooking, and have always thought of baking as a much more methodical and systematic process.  I have more recently, (possibly with a little more maturity) started to appreciate the more methodical process of baking... not to mention the fact that the resulting baked goods give me treats to look forward to all week long!  Also, I've come to the realization that experimentation is definitely possible in baking also.
2. Second of all- I had NEVER HAD a strawberry pie before!  I guess it's an understatement to say that my family were pretty habitual with our meals when I was growing up.  I can count on my one hand the number of "signature dishes" my mom had.  Both my parents worked full-time, so getting food on the table was a priority, but creativeness in the kitchen was not.  Even in our pies, we weren't very adventurous.  We always bought apple pies from our local market for holidays.  We've got a few picky eaters in the house, and apple pie was the one pie everyone could agree on.  My senior year of High School, I decided that it was time to change things up, so I made my family a pumpkin pie, and they LOVED it.  Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE my apple pie, but I thought it was time to venture out again.  

So, here I was, ready to go on the strawberry pie.  I'll post a simple crust recipe first, which I found on allrecipes.com.  This received some great reviews as well, and I'll use it to make my next summer pie!

Fresh Strawberry Pie 

Crust: This is the recipe I'd like to use next time around (It's gotten great reviews)

as adapted from celiac.com

Ingredients:

• 2 c gluten-free flour  (1 cup tapioca flour + 1 cup white rice flour)
• 12 tbsp butter or 12 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar (optional)
• 1 tbsp powdered milk
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp salt (optional)
• 1/3 c cold water

 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Sift both flours, xanthan gum, powdered milk, salt into mixing bowl
3. Add butter and shortening to the dry mix. Then use pastry cutter to blend together until well cut
4. Add cold water and knead until dough is the constancy soft, but not too stiff  
5. Halve the dough, and make two balls.  Put one ball aside in the refrigerator or freezer for use at a later time.  Place the remaining ball of dough between waxed paper or saran wrap, and roll to fit a 9 inch glass pie dish.  Poke holes with a fork into the bottom of the crust so that the crust will not puff in the oven.
6. Bake crust for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees F, until the crust is a nice golden brown color
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Meanwhile, get started on the strawberry filling! 

Filling:

as adapted from cookinglight.com 

• 2 c ripe strawberries 
• 1/2 c water
• 2/3 c granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 c of whipped cream cheese
  
• 6 c small ripe strawberries

1. To prepare filling, combine 2 cups strawberries with 1/2 c of water into blender, and pulse until the mix becomes a strawberry puree. 
2. Pour puree into a small saucepan.  Bring mixture to a boil, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
3. Once the puree is done, set aside from heat 
4. Combine 2/3 cup sugar and cornstarch in a pan.  Add strawberry liquid, stirring well with a whisk.  Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat, and cook 2 additional minutes. 
5. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
6.  Carefully coat the bottom of the pie crust with a thin layer of whipped cream cheese (this will be tasty, and also prevent the strawberry puree from leaking through the bottom)
   
7. Cut the remaining 6 c strawberries in half, and arrange a layer of small strawberries, stem sides down, in the crust. Spoon about one-third of puree over the strawberries. Arrange the remaining strawberries on top, and spoon the remaining puree over the strawberries. 
8. Chill for at least 3 hours to allow the pie to set.
9. Serve with whipped cream topping, or with ala mode, with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

The pie was a great excuse to have friends over a couple nights this week... and a great way to get myself out of bed for breakfast before work each morning also.  I finished it on Friday.  Wow.  Don't know if that's impressive, or frightening.  I have a ridiculous sweet tooth. 


Hope everyone enjoys!