Recipe: Strawberries and Cream Pie

Lately I've been on a pie making kick. My goal is to make a kick-ass crust that is both gluten free and tastes good. I think I've succeeded. Now, I just need to figure out how to transfer it from the parchment paper to the pie plate without it looking like a complete mess. I'll keep working at it until I get it right. There's nothing I like better than a baking challenge. It's almost summer time and there are a bunch of berry and fruit recipes that I would like to try.
Last week I bought some strawberries from an office fundraiser. They came from my coworker's pick-your-own farm. Wegmeyer Farms.  In the summer he has berries and in the fall he has pumpkins and gourds. If you're in the Loudoun County area stop by the farm, I'm sure they'd love to see you.

Since I had a whole quart of strawberries I decided to try the strawberries and cream pie recipe that I found at allrecipes.com. I've adapted it a bit to make it gluten free but I imagine it to be just as yummy as it's wheaty counterpart.

This recipe takes a bit of time but that's only because it needs to be chilled for about 4 hours.

I made two pies* by doubling the recipe.

Strawberries and Cream Pie
Prep time: 20 mins
Bake time: 10-15 mins
Refrigerate: 4 hours
Serves: 8

Pie crust:
Follow directions for Bob's Red Mill pie crust from my Strawberry Rhubarb Pie recipe.
* If you're going to make two pies make two batches of this crust. I tried to split the dough and make two crusts out of it but I ended up with a really thin and brittle crust.

Filling:
Ingredients

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used the pre-whipped kind)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mashed fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Directions

• In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the strawberries. In another small mixing bowl, beat cream until it begins to thicken.
  

• Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold into the cream cheese mixture. Spoon into the crust. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight

If you prefer you can skip making your own whipped cream and just fold in a small tub of ready-made whipped cream. It'll turn out just fine. If you do decide to use the ready-made whipped cream you won't need the heavy whipping cream or the confectioners' sugar. 

The result is a completely creamy, strawberry-y, delicious little bit of summer heaven.

Suggestion: when you're buying strawberries from the grocery store, farmer's market, or Wegmeyer Farms stop and smell them before you put them in your basket. They should smell sweet and have a dark red color. These berries are the sweetest and will add that much more flavor to your pie. If you don't smell anything when you're sniffing them, put them back. Those are likely to have less flavor and sweetness. And last but not least, don't discount the small berries, sometimes those are the ones that pack the biggest flavor punch.

Until next time...
Enjoy!