Grandma's Fresh Strawberry Pie

Fresh strawberry pie is best enjoyed during the peak strawberry season, but mark your calendars so you can enjoy Grandma's Fresh Strawberry Pie this year. 
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We are transitioning from Frozen Berry Pie to one of my favorite pies that my grandma made. So today I am re-sharing her recipe so you can enjoy her pie as well.

I must admit, strawberries are not in season right now in Maryland. In fact, their peak season is some time in May. If you are curious about what your crop availability is where you live, you can check out this handy harvest calendar.


While we all sit back and wait for strawberry season, here is Grandma's Fresh Strawberry Pie recipe for day three of the Five Days of Pie. Stayed tuned for tomorrow's sneaky recipe on what to do with your leftover dough from the perfect pie crust recipe.

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Grandma's Fresh Strawberry Pie

Recipe by a traveling Wife's Grandma

Ingredients

• Perfect Pie Crust (1/2 the recipe)
• 3 cartons plus 1 additional cup Fresh Strawberries
• 1 cup Water (separated into 1/3 and 2/3 cup)
• 1 cup Sugar
• 3 tablespoons Cornstarch

Cooking Directions

1. Make your Perfect Pie Crust (425 degrees F for 10-12 minutes).
2. Half 3 cartons of strawberries and set aside.
3. Quarter the other 1 cup of strawberries and place in medium saucepan with 2/3 cup water and sugar.
4. Gently boil mixture for about 3 minutes.
5. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup Water and Cornstarch, mixing consistently.
6. Add the Water and Cornstarch mixture to the saucepan, reducing temperature to medium.
7. Allow mixture to thicken to desired liking, remove from heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, adding additional water if too thick.
8. Add the halved Fresh Strawberries to the pre-baked Perfect Pie Crust.
9. Top the Strawberries with the cooled strawberry 'syrup'.
10. Refrigerate for several hours.
11. Enjoy with some whipped cream!

Click to tweet: Grandma's Fresh Strawberry Pie is only the best.

Was your grandma or mom known for a particular pie?

Have you ever had fresh strawberry pie?

Frozen Berry Pie Recipe

Frozen Berry Pie is perfect during the winter months while fresh berries aren't in season. Enjoy this deliciously sweet pie warm or chilled, with a required dollop of whipped cream.

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Growing up, I would go strawberry picking with my grandparents every year. Of course, I always devoured my fair share of strawberries on the field and I believe that the staff should have weighted me before and after to charge us the difference. But my favorite part about picking strawberries with my grandparents was my grandma's fresh strawberry pie that she made with the super sweet strawberries. I recreated this pie a few years ago, but I will also be sharing the recipe in tomorrow's post for day three of Five Days of Pie. 

While fresh strawberries aren't in season right now, I opted for a Frozen Berry Pie. Frozen berries are extremely cost effective and the fresh berries are frozen at the peak of their freshness. This means your pie will be perfect each and every time. 

For this particular pie, I chose frozen strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Luckily, they all came in the same variety pack so I just threw them into the pie. I also used the perfect pie crust I showed you yesterday and created a beautiful looking lattice top. Mind you, the more rustic the pie, the better it tastes - at least that's how I feel. 

One tip I have when using juicy berries in a pie is to precook the bottom crust. This will help prevent the crust from getting really soggy. Another tip is to dust some white sugar and corn starch on the bottom crust prior to placing the fruit on it. That will also help prevent a soggy crust. 

Because the bottom crust was precooked, I recommend creating a foil crown for at least half the baking time so that your beautiful crimps don't burn. No one likes a burnt pie. 

Frozen Berry Pie

Recipe by a traveling Wife

Ingredients

• Perfect Pie Crust
• 5 cups Mixed Frozen Berries
• 2/3 cup White Sugar
• 1/4 cup Corn Starch
• 1 Egg White

Cooking Directions

1. Make your Perfect Pie Crust and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
3. Meanwhile, allow your frozen berries to partially thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out your bottom crust and place into pie pan and crimp around the edges. Using a fork, poke holes into the bottom crust then bake for 10-12 minutes, or until pie crimps are lightly browned.
5. In a large bowl, combine berries, white sugar, and corn start until thoroughly mixed.
6. Remove pie crust from oven and dust bottom with a little white sugar and corn starch. Place the berry mixture onto the precooked bottom crust then roll out top crust for lattice.
7. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F
8. Construct your lattice topping and crimp edges of pie crust.
9. Brush crust with egg whites and * dust with white sugar (optional).
10. Use foil to create a foil crown around the edges of the pie crust.
11. Bake for 20 minutes then remove the foil crown and bake for another 30-40 minutes, or until crust is brown.
12. Allow to cool slightly and enjoy!

Click to tweet: Frozen Berry Pie - perfect during the winter.

Have you ever gone strawberry picking?

Have you ever used frozen berries in a pie?

Perfect Pie Crust Recipe

No neet to be intimidated anymore by making homemade pie crust. This sweet and butter crust will pair perfectly with any sweet pie. 

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Can we talk about pie for a moment? I am a sucker for any kind of berry pie. Or chocolate pie. Or any type of pie, if we are being honest. Whether you are making a sweet or savory pie, if you invite me over, I'll be there in the blink of an eye. Props to you if you made a homemade pie crust.

Homemade pie dough can be super daunting though. It's finicky and sensitive and could make a grown woman cry. I'm serious! I'm here to tell you that you no longer need to be afraid of making dough. After many years of making both sweet and savory pie crust, I've learned a few tricks along the way. Follow along with this recipe for the perfect pie crust for your next sweet pie and at the end I'll share some secrets. 

This particular recipe is perfect for making a pie with a double crust or lattice topping. However, if you are only interested in making the base crust, half the entire recipe.

Starting with sifted flour, add in the salt, sugar, and vanilla extract. Good pure vanilla extract will really stand out if you are looking to impress those that will be eating the pie. I highly recommend not skimping on this very important ingredient.

After all of the dry ingredients have been added to the bowl, you will just need to mix them all together.

Here comes the fun part - BUTTER! And lots of it. Feel free to whip up your best Paula Deen impression and cube your very cold butter - three sticks of it. Yes, that says three entire sticks of butter. Just throw your scale out the window for a few days while you savor every bit of this pie.

Adding one stick of butter at a time, mix the butter into the flour mixture until it is combined. It will be lumpy, but we'll take care of that in a minute.

This last part could make or break your pie crust. I highly recommend using the coldest water you can get your hands on and mix the water into the mixture very slowly. I use one tablespoon at a time until the dough has come together.

When your pie dough is well combined, remove from your mixing bowl and roll into a ball. You'll then want to cut the dough into two pieces (one slightly larger than the other) and wrap in plastic wrap, then place into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Perfect Pie Crust

Recipe by a traveling Wife

Yield: double crust

Ingredients

• 3 cups All Purpose Flour
• 6 tablespoons White Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3 sticks Unsalted Butter, cold and cubed
• 4-10 tablespoons Water, cold

Cooking Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla.
2. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using the stand mixer, adding one stick of butter at a time.
3. Slowly add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until mixture forms a ball without being wet or sticky
4. Ball dough up and cut into two pieces (one slightly larger than the other) then wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Here are some tips if you are planning on making a homemade pie crust:

- You are free to use a pastry cutter and fork, food processor, or stand mixer when making your dough. I will admit that I've had the best success with a stand mixer.

- The weather outside and temperature in your house will play a huge role on how easily your dough will come together. On humid days, your dough will be a lot more temperamental and will probably make you want to pull your hair out. Just have patience and slowly add in the coldest water you can find. 

- Don't throw out your left over pie dough. Once you fill your pie pan and make your beautiful crimps, save the rest of your dough for pie fries (recipe coming later this week).

Now run off and make your dough and come back tomorrow for the tastiest frozen berry pie recipe, because it's Pie Week on a traveling Wife. #FiveDaysofPie 

Click to tweet: The perfect buttery and flakey pie crust recipe.

Do you make homemade pie dough or buy store bought?

What is your favorite type of pie?

What do you do with your left over pie dough?

Fresh Strawberry Pie Recipe

As promised on Monday, here is the Fresh Strawberry Pie recipe.

Yummy!

Filling Ingredients:

- 3 cartons plus 1 additional cup Fresh Strawberries

- 1 Cup Water (separated into 1/3 and 2/3 Cup)

- 1 Cup Sugar

- 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch

Crust Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour (plus additional for rolling it out)

- 3 Tablespoons Sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon Salt

- 1/2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

- 1 1/2 stick Unsalted Butter, cubed and frozen

- 4 to 6 Tablespoons ice cold Water

Directions for Crust:

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

- In a large mixing bowl combine Flour, Sugar, Salt, and Vanilla. 

- Cut the Butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter.

- Slowly add 1 Tablespoon of Water at a time until mixture forms a ball without being wet or sticky

- Ball dough up and pat into a disk, then wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator.

- Once cold, dusting flour as not to stick, roll dough out until it is about 1/2 inch bigger than your pie plate.

- Place into pie plate and bake at 425 degrees F for roughly 12-15 minutes.

Directions for Filling:

- Half 3 cartons of Strawberries and set aside.

- Quarter 1 Cup of Strawberries  and place in medium saucepan with 2/3 Cup Water and 1 Cup Sugar. 

- Boil mixture for about 3 minutes.

- In a small mixing bowl, combine 1/2 Cup Water and 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch mixing consistently.

- Add Water and Cornstarch mixture to the saucepan, reducing temperature to medium.

- Allow mixture to thicken to desired liking, remove from heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, adding additional water if too thick.

Making the Pie:

- Add the halved Fresh Strawberries to the Pie Crust.

- Top the Strawberries with the cooled strawberry 'syrup'.

- Refrigerate for several hours

- Enjoy with some whipped cream

Yup, I enjoyed it.