Fresh Strawberry Pie

Last updated on October 25th, 2024

This Fresh Strawberry Pie is loaded with fresh, hand-picked berries, nestled in a tender, flaky baked crust, and topped with a dollop of homemade whip cream.

Vintage Inspiration: My vintage inspiration for this classic strawberry pie recipe is from a vintage pie plate. Circa 1980’s

How to make Fresh Strawberry Pie:

How to make the filling:

• Most strawberry pie recipes call for either a pint, quart or pound of strawberries. Fresh picked strawberries are sold this way as well, by the quart, pound or flat (8 quarts). Both one quart and one pound equals about 4 cups of sliced berries, one pint equals about 2 cups.
• If you are using the berries the same day, lightly spray with water to remove the gritty sand and pat dry with paper towel. Use a small, round fruit huller to remove tops and slice berries.
• If you are not planning to use them right away, place berries in an air-tight container and keep in the fridge for up to 1 week. Then clean and prep them as needed, otherwise they may turn mushy.
• Another option is to freeze berries by placing on a 1/2 sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Spread in a single layer and freeze for 1 hour. Place berries in ziploc bags or vacuum seal them for up to 8-10 months.
• There are several thickening agents such as cornstarch, ClearJel, tapioca starch, or flour. Vintage recipes typically call for flour or cornstarch.
• For a modern substitution, I use ClearJel which doesn’t make the filling cloudy like flour can do. When a recipe calls for cooked filling, use regular ClearJel. When you are not going to cook the filling, it is ok to use Instant ClearJel.
• If ClearJel is hard to find in your area, you can use cornstarch. To substitute: If the recipe calls for 1 T. cornstarch, use 1 1/2 T. ClearJel. If the recipe calls for 2 T. flour or tapioca, use 1 T. ClearJel. You can find ClearJel in Amish or health food stores areas, or online.

How to make perfect pie crust

Choosing pie plates:

• I bake my pies in vintage ceramic pie plates which conduct slow, even heat. Sometimes you can vintage pie plates at antique shops or flea markets.
• Other types of pie plates include glass or metal. Glass will also conduct slow, even heat and also shows if the bottom crust has browned nicely. Metal pans, especially if they are dark, may brown the crust too fast, which could burn or overbake your pie.

Avoid tough or soggy crust:

• To tenderize the pie crust, add 1-2 T. lemon juice, white vinegar, or vodka.
• To prevent a soggy crust, dust the raw crust with a thickening agent (cornstarch or flour) and then lightly brush with egg wash (whisk together 1 egg + 1 T. cream) before adding in the filling.
• When making a blind pie crust, use pie weights to reduce the pie shell from shrinkage. Place parchment paper under pie weights first or else they will stick to the bottom of the pie. If you don’t have pie weights, you can use dried beans.

Cold dough, hot oven:

• Use frozen butter and dice into small cubes and put right back into the freezer if your not making the dough right away.
• Chill water with some ice cubes before adding to dough.
• After you roll out the crust, place it in the fridge to chill. This will help the crust from shrinking.
• Place assembled pie in the fridge for about 15 minutes prior to baking, so it goes cold into a nice hot oven.
• Cover with foil or pie protector to ensure filling is cooked through but that the crust doesn’t burn.
• Watch to see when pie starts to bubble, then let it bake 5 more minutes.

How to make Homemade Whipped Cream:

• Homemade Whipped Cream is delicious on Fresh Strawberry Pie and tastes so much better than other whipped toppings like canned whip cream, Cool Whip or Dream Whip that contain artificial ingredients.
• Use superfine sugar if you keep on hand, as it incorporates well, eliminating grittiness when beaten with the cream. Use can also use powdered sugar.
• Chill your mixing bowl and whisk or an old-fashioned whip cream beater in the fridge prior to making. This step ensures to keep the cream extra cold and make it light and fluffy.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

This Fresh Strawberry Pie is loaded with fresh, hand-picked berries, nestled in a tender, flaky baked crust, and topped with a dallop of homemade whip cream.

Servings 4

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Ingredients

CRUST

• 2 c. unbleached flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 12 T. butter cold & diced into cubes
• 4 T. ice cold water
• 2 T. vodka lemon juice or white vinegar

PIE FILLING

• 8 c. sliced strawberries reserve 3 c.
• 1 c. sugar
• 3 T. cornstarch OR ClearJel
• 2 T. unflavored gelatin or natural strawberry gelatin
• 1 T. lemon juice

FRESH WHIP CREAM

• 1 c. heavy cream
• ¼ c. superfine sugar
• ¾ tsp. vanilla

Instructions

• PREP
• Zest and juice 1 lemon. Prep strawberries, remove hulls and slice and set aside.
• Place ice cubes in glass of water and set aside. Dice up butter into small cubes and put in freezer until making the crust.
• CRUST
• Place flour, salt into food processor. Add cold butter, water, and vodka and pulse just until the dough comes together.
• Pour out onto a piece of saran wrap and shape into 8-10″ round disk. Refrigerate 10 minutes if using right away or overnight. Lightly dust with flour. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or overnight.
• Roll out dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Shape into round disk with enough to hang 1” over your pie pan.
• Place crust in pie pan and lightly dust bottom of crust with thickening agent (clear jel or tapioca). Crimp trim edges and brush all the crust with egg wash. Place back in fridge for 10 minutes.
• Place a round circle of parchment over the pie and fill bottom with pie weights. Bake pie shell at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
• PIE FILLING
• Place 5 c. of berries and water in heavy pan and bring to boil. Take out 1/2 c. of the juice and sprinkle gelatin on top of it.
• Reduce heat to medium and add sugar, ClearJel, lemon juice, and the gelatin/juice mixture. Simmer 5-7 minutes until it thickens.
• Remove from burner and let it cool completely. Once it is cooled, stir in the remaining 3 c. of berries.
• Pour filling into cooled baked pie shell. Place in refrigerator and serve cold with a dallop of fresh whip cream. Store pie in the refrigerator.
• WHIPPED CREAM
• Place heavy cream and superfine sugar into a mixer with whisk attachment. Add vanilla and mix for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy with medium-stiff peaks.

Notes

If time allows, be sure to let the batter rest as hydrating the gluten-free flour is an important step to help eliminate grittiness. You can make the pie crust ahead of time and place in refrigerator until needed.

DIETARY SUBSTITUTIONS

GLUTEN-FREE

Sub out your favorite gluten-free flour.

Storage: Gluten-free baked goods do not have the same shelf-life as conventional baked goods. Store in airtight container on counter 1-2 days, refrigerate 3-5 days, or seal in plastic and place in freezer safe container for up to 6 months. When freezing, allow to come to room temperature before opening the container.

TO MAKE VEGAN

Swap out butter with vegan butter. My favorite is Country Crock Olive Oil Sticks or use canola oil. In place of the buttermilk, use unsweetened oat, coconut or almond milk To replace the egg, add 1 tsp. soda to the batter with 1 T. vinegar poured on top of the soda

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: pies

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @vintagebakedmodern on Instagram and hashtag it #vintagebakedmodern