This Strawberry Pie is made completely from scratch, using fresh strawberries, and just a small amount of sugar, therefore natural strawberry flavor can really shine. This delicious pie celebrates one of my favorite fruits.
Strawberry Pie!
Springtime is perfect for experimenting with seasonal fruit and making pies. Fresh fruit pies are my ideal dessert at this time of the year, and since strawberries are my favorite fruit Fresh Strawberry Pie was a must bake.
One of my New Years’ resolutions was to perfect making pie dough. In the past, that was always the mess, so I decided to try various pie dough recipes, to see which one is the best and the easiest to handle. In this recipe, I used buttermilk pie dough. I was really excited to try it, and it didn’t disappoint. It was easy to roll, flaky, and full of flavor. The pie dough recipe I used is from amazing Brita from the foodwithfeeling.com blog.
How do you make easy, fresh strawberry pie from scratch?
Strawberry pie is super simple to make. Sliced strawberries, sugars, cornstarch for thickening, a hint of vanilla, and lemon to bring out all the flavors!
First of all, we need to make pie dough. You can use store-bought if you want, but I don’t have that privilege here in Croatia, because pies are not so popular here, therefore premade store-bought pie dough can’t be bought anywhere.
HOW TO MAKE PIE DOUGH FROM SCRATCH?
To be sure the get the best result, most important is that all your ingredients are really cold, especially butter. With this purpose in mind, cut your butter into cubes, and put it into the freezer for 15 minutes.
I always use a food processor, but you can make the pie dough with two forks or a pastry cutter. Of course, you can do it by hand, using your fingers, but after you add in the butter, and before proceeding, be sure to put the bowl in a freezer for 15 minutes, because the warmth from your hands will soften the butter.
In a bowl of a food processor, add flour, sugar, and salt and pulse a few times. Next, add in COLD cubed butter and pulse until butter is cut into the flour, but still has visible chunks no larger than a pea.
While pulsing on and off, slowly add in the buttermilk and continue to pulse until it’s all combined. The dough will be fairly crumbly and will barely hold together, but when squeezed together it should hold its shape. If it seems to need it, however, add in more buttermilk, a teaspoon at a time.
Next, lay a sheet of plastic wrap on the counter. Split the dough in half and dump the half of it on a prepared plastic wrap. Do the same with the rest of the dough. Gather the edges and press tightly together to form a disk, wrap in the plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. At this point, you can also freeze the dough for 2 months.
When the dough is completely chilled, take it out of the fridge to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes. This makes it easier to roll out.
For a 23 cm (9-inch) pie dish, roll one half of the dough on a lightly floured surface into a rough 30 cm (12-inch) circle. Roll the dough onto your rolling pin and gently place it into the pie dish. Brush the base and sides of the pie dough with the beaten egg white, and put the prepped pie shell in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Roll out the second dough half, cut into strips or into any shape you want, transfer to a cookie sheet, and put it into the fridge to chill, while you make the filling.
How do you make Strawberry Pie Filling from scratch?
Since you need only a few ingredients, the filling is super simple and it’s a breeze to make – just strawberries, sugar, a bit of cornstarch, and for a bit of flavor vanilla and lemon juice.
In a large bowl stir all the ingredients for the filling, and let stand for 15 minutes.
How to assemble the Strawberry Pie?
Place oven rack in the bottom third of the oven. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
To assemble the pie, take the pie dish out of the fridge, and using a slotted spoon, spoon filling into the pie crust, since we don’t want our filling to be runny, be sure to leave some of the liquid in the bowl.
Apply a lattice top or any other design as can be seen here, then crimp or flute the edges to seal, and place your completed pie in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Next, whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon water until smooth, and brush onto crust. Sprinkle the top with sugar, if using. Place pie on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F), and bake for 40-45 minutes more (be sure to bake the pie until the filling juices are visibly bubbling), covering with aluminum foil to prevent the top from browning, if necessary. Remove from oven, and let cool to room temperature for at least 2 hours.
TIPS FOR MAKING FRESH STRAWBERRY PIE
This strawberry pie is best made with fresh strawberries. However, if you don’t have fresh strawberries at hand, frozen strawberries will work. Surely, fresh berries are the best, but if you only have frozen on hand, use them, but make sure to thaw them first. Keep in mind that frozen strawberries will expel more moisture than fresh strawberries. Therefore, you may have to add additional cornstarch to the mixture.
How do you keep a bottom pie crust from getting soggy?
Surprisingly, the trick is to use egg whites. Egg whites from protective moisture between juicy pie fillings and your unbaked pie crust before and after baking. Egg whites contain proteins, and as they heat up, they start to coagulate or thicken, which helps push the wet pie filling away from the pie crust. But don’t worry about the taste – egg whites are almost tasteless, and nearly undetectable in your pie crust when baked.
Why is my strawberry pie runny?
As a matter of fact, short baking time is one of the reasons you’ll often end up with a runny fruit pie because it’s simply hasn’t been baked long enough. Thickeners like cornstarch need to reach the point of boiling before they are activated, so bake the pie until the filling juices are visibly bubbling through the lattice top. People often see their crust turning light brown, and think the pie is done when it’s really not. Cover the top with foil to prevent excess browning, if necessary.
How to make a lattice pie crust?
The Kitchn has visual how to make a perfect lattice top. Also, check out the youtube video, by Baking A Moment.
Finally, the important thing is, patience is key. You must wait for the pie to cool down before slicing. Important to realize, if you try to cut into a warm pie, you’ll end up with a big mess. Have patience and let the pie cool.
FOR MORE SPRING/SUMMER DESSERTS, CHECK THESE OUT…
Strawberry Mascarpone Tart
Lemon Roll Cake
Lemon Tart
Strawberry Galette
Strawberry Cobbler
Lemon Yogurt Tart
Lemon Bundt Cake with Berry Jam Filling
No-bake coconut, White Chocolate, and Raspberry Cake
→If you make this Strawberry Pie, please leave a comment, rate it, and tag @mihaela_biteitquick on Instagram, because I would love to see what you baked!
Happy baking!
Strawberry Pie
Ingredients
PIE DOUGH
- 300 grams all-purpose flour (2 ½ cups, 10.58 oz)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 230 grams unsalted butter very cold and cut into cubes, (1 cup, 8.1 oz)
- 120 grams cold buttermilk (½ cup, 4.2 oz)
- 1 egg + 1 egg white beaten, for brushing
- turbinado or granulated sugar for topping the unbaked pie
STRAWBERRY FILLING
- 800 grams fresh strawberries sliced, (28 oz)
- 80 grams granulated sugar (1/3 cup, 2.82 oz ) or more depending on sweetness of berries
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 45 grams cornstarch (1/3 cup, 1.6 oz)
Instructions
- For the dough, cut the butter into small chunks and chill in the freezer for around 15 minutes.
- In a bowl of a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, and salt a few times. Add in COLD cubed butter, and pulse until butter is cut into the flour, but still has visible chunks no larger than a pea. You can also use two forks or a pastry cutter. (You can do it by hands, using your fingers, but after you add in the butter, put the bowl in a freezer for 15 minutes. The warmth from your hands will soften the butter.)
- While pulsing on and off, slowly add in the buttermilk and continue to pulse slowly until it’s all combined. The dough will be fairly crumbly and will barely hold together, but when squeezed together it should hold its shape. If it seems to need it, however, add in more buttermilk a teaspoon at a time.
- Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on the counter. Split the dough in half and dump the half of it on a prepared plastic wrap. Do the same with the rest of the dough. Gather the edges and press tightly together to form a disk, wrap in the plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Place oven rack in the bottom third of the oven. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
- When the dough is completely chilled, take it out of the fridge to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes. This makes it easier to roll out.
- For a 23 cm(9-inch) pie dish, roll one half of the dough on a lightly floured surface into a rough 30 cm (12-inch) circle. Roll the dough onto your rolling pin and gently place it into the pie dish. Brush the base and sides of the pie dough with the beaten egg white, and put the prepped pie shell in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Roll out the second dough half, cut into strips or into any shape you want, transfer to a cookie sheet, and put it into the fridge to chill, while you make the filling.
- To make the filling, in a large bowl stir together strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Let stand for 15 minutes.
- To assemble the pie, take the pie dish out of the fridge, and using a slotted spoon, spoon filling into the pie crust, leaving some of the liquid in the bowl.
- Apply a lattice top, crimp or flute the edges to seal, and place your completed pie in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon water until smooth; brush onto crust. Sprinkle the top with sugar, if using. Place pie on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F); bake for 40-45minutes more (bake the pie until the filling juices are visibly bubbling), covering with foil to prevent excess browning, if necessary. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature for at least 2 hours. Store in the fridge before serving. Serve warm or cold.
Nutrition
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