This is Justin's favorite! It all started a year and a half ago--Justin's birthday is in late November, and I asked what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. He asked if he could have strawberry rhubarb pie instead. I found a recipe and started to gather the ingredients. After a few trips to various grocery stores, I could not find rhubarb anywhere. I still wanted to try to make a strawberry pie using the ingredients I had already bought, but I needed to find a new recipe. I went straight to Allrecipes and found this recipe. I decided I'd try it. I always use the same crust recipe, so I was ready to go!
I've made this pie half a dozen times since then. It's a tasty summer pie, and everyone loves it! We got strawberries in our CSA (community supported agriculture) basket this week, so this pie had to be made.
What I used for the crust*:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
6 tablespoons water
*this is a recipe for a double crust pie
What I used for the pie:
Approximately 4 cups sliced strawberries (I only had about 3 1/2)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Approximately 2 tablespoons butter (I used margarine)
Approximately 2 tablespoons milk
Approximately 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
How I did it:
I preheated the oven to 425 degrees and got right to work on making the crust. I've made this crust before, so I know that everything has to be exact for it to come out right. I combined the flour and salt in a large bowl. After giving that a quick mix, I added the 2/3 cup shortening. I used a hand mixer to create a crumble out of the mixture. The next step is the most important: I added 6 tablespoon of water to the mixture--one tablespoon at a time. I fluffed the mixture with a fork after each water addition. If you do this wrong, the dough comes out too powdery or too sticky. This time I needed to add 1/2 tablespoon more water to make it right. After adding the water and getting it right, I formed the dough into a ball. I divided the large dough ball into two smaller balls (bottom crust and top crust).
I took my first dough ball and rolled it out with a rolling pin. I always put flour on the countertop so that the crust won't stick.
After rolling out the dough enough so that it would cover my entire pie plate, I carefully picked it up and moved it to the pie plate. You can see that I had to push down and move the crust a little after I put it on the plate. It's really important to make sure that the crust comes all the way to the top of the plate because the top crust needs to meet the bottom one when you seal it.
I set the pie plate and crusts aside while I worked on the pie filling. I had already sliced the strawberries, so I just had to get the sugar mixture together. I combined the granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and almond extract together in a large bowl. The extracts kind of clump a little bit in the sugar, so I just go through and break them up with a spoon.
Once the sugar mix was less clumpy, I added the strawberries and coated them with the mixture. It is so tempting to pick one of them up and eat it, but I resisted this time!
I poured the sugary strawberries into the crusted pie plate. I mounded the strawberries in the middle a little bit because they spread to the sides while the pie is baking, so it winds up evening the pie out. After I poured the strawberries in, I set the pie plate aside to work on the top crust.
I rolled out the other dough ball on the counter (again--using flour on the counter to keep the dough from sticking). Usually I cut the dough into long strips and lattice it myself, but Justin bought me a quick-lattice maker for Christmas that I hadn't used yet. I just placed the quick-lattice maker on the dough, and it cut the squares into the dough for me. The only problem is the squares don't come out when I pull the cutter off. I had to pick the little squares out with my fingers. Slightly tedious, but it didn't take me too long.
I slid the lattice crust onto the top of the pie. I placed a dab of butter into each opening. I also brushed the crust with milk and sprinkled a bit of sugar on it to make it golden during baking.
I placed my crust shield on the pie (another Christmas gift from Justin) and popped it in the 425 degree oven for 40 minutes. It turned out just right!
Rating:
Our friend Andrew was over for dinner, so he had a piece of strawberry pie for dessert. Andrew isn't big on sweets, but he really enjoyed this. It's a winner!
The first time I had it, I didn't think I liked the almond flavor, but it has really grown on me. I've considered omitting it, but Justin says that's one of his favorite parts. If you're not big on almond, you could add less or omit it completely. The pie would still be heavenly!
Warning: following this recipe will result in a messy kitchen! And maybe an expanded waistline!
wonderful!
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