Pie #1- Strawberry Pie

Last week we went to a Scout Auction and Merrick was wanting to bid on six months of pies - someone was going to make one pie a month for you for six months. I told him that I would make him some pies instead of him spending like $50. So yesterday I made my first pie, his request was Strawberry Pie. I've never made a strawberry pie before so this was fun to try out. In fact, I think the only pies I've ever made from scratch before were apple and pecan, so this will be a good (and yummy!) learning experience for me. Here is the recipe I came up with:

Fresh Strawberry Pie:

3 c water

1 c sugar

1 small (3 oz) package of strawberry gelatin

3 T cornstarch

3 c fresh strawberries, washed and hulled

1 baked pie shell

In a medium saucepan, bring water and sugar to boil. Mix gelatin with cornstarch, gradually add to boiling mixture. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until mixture is clear and slightly thickened. Let stand at room temperature until just warm, about 15 minutes. While mixture is cooling, wash and hull strawberries (I also sliced mine because they were really big. If you had small ones you can leave them whole). Place berries in a large mixing bowl. Pour gelatin mixture over strawberries and gently fold together. Scoop into baked pie shell (don't just pour the whole thing in, that's what I did and it was too full. I left about 1 1/2 c of the gelatin mixture out). Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Top with whipped topping, if desired. Makes 8 servings.

I made my own crust with the recipe below. You can use any basic pie crust recipe from your cookbook at home, or you can buy one of those pillsbury pie crusts if you want to make it really simple. I like making my own crust because it makes me feel like a good cook.

Single Pie Crust Recipe:

1 1/4 c flour
1/4 t salt
1/3 shortening
4-5 T cold water

1. In a medium bowl stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender (I just use my fingers), cut in shortening until pieces are pea-size.
2. Sprinkle 1 T of the water over part of the flour mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to the side of the bowl. Repeat moistening flour mixture, using 1 T of water at a time, until all the flour mixture is moistened. Form dough into a ball.
3. On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten dough. Roll dough from center to edges into a circle about 12 inches in diameter.
4. To transfer pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin. Unroll pastry into a 9-inch pie plate. Ease pastry into pie plate without stretching it.
5. Trim pastry to 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie plate. Fold under extra pastry. Crimp edge as desired. Prick bottom and sides of pastry with a fork. Line with a double thickness of foil.
6. Bake in a 450'F oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 5-6 minutes more or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

You can also just buy a tub of Cool Whip but I think it's fun to make your own whipped cream so here's the recipe I used for that too.

Whipped Cream:
1/2 c heavy cream
1 T sugar
1/4 t vanilla

Combine in a medium bowl (optional: chill the bowl and beaters ahead of time) and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form.


It was really yummy. Not a ton of ingredients, only took about an hour to make total, and it wasn't too difficult for this beginning pie chef. Try it out!

Any suggestions for Pie #2?

Update: I found a picture online that came the closest to what mine looked like, just in case you wanted a better idea. Oh and I totally forgot to mention my best tip!!! Merrick's grandma once made a peach pie and put a thin layer of cream cheese on top of the bottom crust before she put the filling in and it helped the crust to not get soggy. So I tried this. I only used about 2 oz cream cheese for the whole thing and you couldn't taste it very much so maybe next time I'll try a little more, but I think it did make the crust extra yummy.