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The strawberry season is upon us. Mid-April berries, at least in our area—are not as good as May berries but if you shop carefully, you can good berries at a reasonable price.
I love strawberry desserts with fresh succulent berries. Strawberries are not my first choice for baking, they are too wet and fragile, but they are wonderful, fresh on the table or as a part of a dessert.
Method 1
I love strawberry pies. There is a diner not far from here where the proprietor piles chunks of fresh berries into a pie shell and loads it with lots of sweetened whipped cream. Her pies look like the chunky pie in this article.
The key here is to let the whipped cream do the sweetening. If you sprinkle sugar over the berries, the sugar draws the juice from the berries and the berries become dark, soggy, and unappetizing.
But whipped cream is fragile. Solve that problem with meringue powder. The whipped cream will hold its loft much better with meringue powder added. I usually add two or three tablespoons to two cups of whipping cream, maybe more if I’m going to hold the pie overnight.
Consider adding some lemon zest or orange zest to the whipped cream. The touch of citrus complements the strawberries well.
Method 2
The other method is use the glace (or glaze) method, sweetening and covering the berries with a clear, thick, sugar-based sauce. The clear sauce allows the beauties of the berries to show through.
This is very simple also. Instead of putting chunks of berries in the baked pie shell, use slices. Similar slices can create a beautiful mosaic pattern. To get uniform slices, use a strawberry and egg slicer. It will quickly slice berries uniformly.
To remove the hull, use a plastic straw as shown.
Instead of piling whipped cream o
n top, you use the clear glace. (People will nearly always call it “glaze” but I think technically, it’s a glace.)
Once the pie shell is baked, you can assemble either pie in less than 15 minutes.
Key Success Factors
The Slices
You cannot cut neat thin slices with a knife. Get a slicer for a few bucks.
Mixing the Crust
Most folks seem to be intimidated by pie crusts. I’ve made hu
ndreds and hundreds of pies. Most the time my pies turn out fine. Sometimes they don’t.
I don’t make pie crusts from scra
tch anymore, at least not very often. I use a 60-second, just-add-water pie crust mix. Most commercial bakers don’t make crusts from scratch, they use a mix.
Use a mix and you’ll make pies just like the bake shop.
Forming the Crust
There are lots of ways to form the edge of a crust. This is my standby—simple, quick, and attractive. It builds a bit of a wall, a dam that eliminates spills.
To form the pie shell, roll the dough on a floured surface into a 14-inch round. Wrap around rolling pin and carefully unroll over a 9-inch pie plate. Form the edge of the crust as shown.
Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork and cover the bottom with pie weights or beans to keep bubbles from forming. Bake for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees.
The Pie Crust Kit
We assembled what you need to make your pies in a kit:
- The pie crust mix
- The strawberry slicer
- The glace. (optional)
If you’re making pies with the chunk method, you don’t need the glace.
The pie crust mix makes two pies so you’re buying a two-pie kit.
Get the pie crust kit for only $6.99.
Step #3: Hull and Slice the Berries.
Prep time: 6 minutes
Use a stiff plastic straw to hull your berries. McDonald’s straws are perfect. If the straw has a bend to it, use the opposite end that is straight. Thread the end of the straw through the bottom point of the strawberry. Push it vertically until it comes out at the top. The riper the strawberry, the less force you will need to use. Use a slicer to slice your berries. You’ll have nice, neat slices in no time.
Step #4: Spoon on the Glaze.
Prep time: 2 minutes
Spoon the glaze over the berries and place your pie in the refrigerator to chill. You’re done. Serve with whipped cream.
Get What You Will Need Here
Strawberry Glaze
Certified Professional Pie Pans
Professional Pie Crust Mix
Pie Weights
Strawberry Slicer
About the Author
Dennis Weaver has burned food from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Miami, Florida. He is the founder of The Prepared Pantry in Rigby, Idaho and the author of How to Bake: The Art and Science of Baking available as an E-book or as a Kindle book on Amazon.
Dennis lives in Rigby, Idaho, with his wife, Merri Ann. They have five wonderful children and five beautiful granddaughters.