Strawberry pie…

This new year has been abound with pie. I’d seen a bunch of different strawberry pies on Pinterest, including a baked double-flaky crust one (superb in winter), and a baked strawberry in sour cream filling tart (not a good recipe, the filling was flour sugar and sour cream and was a bit gluey, but worth reworking).
But the most eye-catching strawberry pie I had seen was a fresh strawberry pie in a crust, the berries glowing and bound together with just enough strawberry jelly. I’ll admit it – it looks a little American – but hey, lets be frank, what the Americans don’t know about pie isn’t worth knowing…

And the best thing? As we would say in New Zealand, this strawberry pie is “easy-as”!

I’d been waiting for two things to happen in order to make this pie. First, summer – this is not a wintry dessert, its fresh flavours and the fact it is chilled requires hot weather! Second, I’ve been waiting for an audience. Unlike cupcakes, I don’t usually take pie to work.

Luckily over new year I went with mum to visit my sister in Adelaide, and my sister is the biggest strawberry fiend in the world. The perfect audience!
My sister’s reaction was: Well, this is mine. What are you guys going to eat?

I can’t say I blame her. All those shiny red berries with that incredible aroma, nestled together in a perfectly short butter crust. She ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It goes wonderfully with champagne too! This is a go-to recipe.

In the six days I was at my sister’s I made four pies. Two strawberry, one peach, and one chocolate cream pie. I love chocolate cream pie – I’ll blog about that soon, promise!

For the fresh strawberry pie and peach pie, read on :)…

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Short butter crust

125g butter, softened
1 1/4 cups plain flour
3 tbsp sugar
pinch vanilla seeds, or 1/4 tsp good quality vanilla, or 1 tsp lemon zest

Combine all ingredients with a mixing spoon until you get a smooth dough.

With your fingers, pat the dough all over the base and sides of a 4cm deep, 20cm round tart tin, and prick well with a fork. Chill until completely cold – at least 45 minutes.

Bake butter crust at 180 degrees Celsius for approximately 5-8 minutes until it is starting to rise and colour but the pastry still looks a little raw. Remove from the oven and press the pastry back against the base and sides of the tin with the back of a spoon, taking care not to burn yourself! This step makes a beautifully dense, crisp case for the tart.

Return to the oven and bake another 8-10 minutes until the pastry is golden. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Strawberry filling

750g fresh strawberries, washed, dried, hulled and halved if they are very large
4 tbsp cornflour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence (if not using “strawberries and cream” jelly crystals, see below)
500mL water
1 package strawberry jelly crystals (if you can find the “strawberries and cream” flavour, this is very nice)

Combine the cornflour and sugar in a medium saucepan. Add the water and vanilla (if using) and bring to the boil, stirring frequently. Let the mixture boil for a minute or so until the mixture looks clear (you will need to let the bubbles subside to check this). Remove from the heat.

While the mixture is hot, add the jelly crystals and stir well until completely combined. Let cool to room temperature.

Tip the strawberries into the cooled jelly mixture, which should have reached a gel like consistency. Toss the berries in the jelly, then tip into the cooled tart case, arranging the top strawberries to form a smooth mound. Pour any leftover jelly over the top of the berries, ensuring that the jelly mixture doesn’t flood over the sides of the tart!

Chill the strawberry pie until the jelly is set, about 2 hours. Slice with a sharp knife and serve with whipped cream.

Fresh Peach Pie

Make the crust as above. The filling below is a bit different from the strawberry pie because peaches are much more juicy – they need more setting agent.

Peach mango filling

750g fresh peaches, peeled, sliced and drained. You could use very well drained tinned peaches in a pinch, but it won’t be so nice!
6 tbsp cornflour
3/4 cup sugar
500mL liquid, made up of 340mL Peach soda (I used Bundaberg), the juice of half a lemon, and the remainder water.
1 package mango jelly crystals
1tsp gelatine

Combine the cornflour and sugar in a medium saucepan. Add the liquid and bring to the boil, stirring frequently. Let the mixture boil for a minute or so until the mixture looks clear (you will need to let the bubbles subside to check this). Remove from the heat.

While the mixture is hot, add the jelly crystals and gelatine and stir well until completely combined. Let cool to room temperature.

Tip the peach slices into the cooled jelly mixture, which should have reached a gel like consistency. Toss the slices in the jelly, then tip into the cooled tart case, arranging the top slices to form a smooth mound. Pour any leftover jelly over the top of the peaches, ensuring that the jelly mixture doesn’t flood over the sides of the tart!

Chill the tart until the jelly is set, about 2 hours. Slice with a sharp knife and serve with whipped ricotta.

I hope you enjoy making and eating these pies as much as I do… just make sure my sister isn’t around!

Enjoy xxx