STRAWBERRY CREAM PIE

​THE BACKSTORY
​Technically speaking, I guess I've made pies before, but I feel like I cheated.  You see, the only pies I ever made before this one were Pumpkin and Pumpkin Pecan pie for Thanksgiving and for both of these pies, I am pretty sure I just used store bought pie crust.  Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying there is anything illegal with store bought pie crust, but I figured if I had a baking blog I had to at least make my own pie crust once.....

So, I decided I would try my hand at making my first ever pie from scratch, and use fresh strawberries from the farm right up the street.  

SOURCES
I used a recipe from the Wild Wild Whisk Baking Blog, and made a few small adaptations.  I've also got some helpful tips and advice to supplement the original recipe.  
https://wildwildwhisk.com/strawberry-and-cream-pie/


PIE CRUST INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 rounded tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/4 rounded teaspoon kosher salt
• 5 ounce unsalted butter - cold (Essentially 1 and 1/4 sticks of butter)
• 3 tablespoon cold water
• Extra flour for rolling
• Parchment Paper*
• Dry Baking Beans**

CREAM FILLING INGREDIENTS

• 8 oz cream cheese - room temperature
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream - cold
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or almond extract)

FRUIT TOPPING INGREDIENTS

• 1 lbs fresh strawberries
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

 
*Parchment Paper:  For this recipe, you will use the parchment paper to help in the blind baking process.  Essentially, you will cover the pie crust with some parchment paper and then use some baking beans to weight down the parchment paper, which will help the pie crust bake and not rise up.  
**Dry Baking Beans:  These are used with the parchment paper above to help you "blind bake" your pie.  You may be wondering what kind of beans to use...I just used some dry Navy Beans and they worked fine.  Here is what Wikipedia says about Blind Baking:  

Baking blind (sometimes called pre-baking) is the process of baking a pie crust or other pastry without the filling. Blind baking a pie crust is necessary when it will be filled with an unbaked filling (such as with pudding or cream pies), in which case the crust must be fully baked. It is also called for if the filling has a shorter bake time than the crust, in which case the crust is partly baked.[1] Blind baking is also used to keep pie crust from becoming soggy due to a wet filling.  [Wikipedia]

DIRECTIONS 

GET THE FRUIT FILLING READY

1. Wash the strawberries in water and cut the leaves off of the top.  After you have washed the strawberries, cut the bigger ones into quarters and halve the smaller ones.
2. Put the strawberries in a bowl and toss them with 1/4 cup of sugar.  Cover and refrigerate until you need them for the final step.  

​MAKE THE PIE DOUGH

1. Add the flour, sugar and salt in a small bowl and mix together with a whisk. After you have mixed things together a bit, transfer the dry ingredients to a food processor fitted with a dough blade (essentially a plastic blade, there is a picture above).  
2. Cube the cold butter and add it to the food processor with the flour mixture. Pulse the ingredients together several times until the butter is about pea / bean size.  This is not an exact science, so don't worry if the mixture is not perfectly homogeneous.  
3. After the ingredients are mixed well, turn the food processor to the “on” position and drizzle the cold water over the dough mixture through the water hole.  As you add the water you will see that the dough mixture will start to pull together, as it does you can turn the food processor off.  If things are not mixing that well, you may need to stop the food processor in between and get a spatula to get the flour at the bottom to mix up.
4. Take the pie dough out on the counter and shape it into a disk. Wrap it in plastic and rest it in the refrigerator for an hour.

PREPARE THE PIE CRUST IN THE DISH

1. After you have let the pie dough chill in the fridge, take it out of the fridge and let it sit out for a few minutes to get warmer and more pliable.  After the dough has softened use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a circle that is about 2” larger than your pie dish. Feel free to use extra flour to keep dough from sticking to the counter and roller. *Note: I found that that as I was rolling the dough it started to break apart at the edges.  Eventually I honed my technique and found that gently applying pressure in the center of the dough and then carefully rolling outward with less pressure helped keep the crust together.  
2. After you have rolled out the pie dough, carefully place the dough over the pie dish, and lightly press the dough into the bottom and side of the pie dish.  Let the excess pie dough hang over the side.
3. Trim some of the excess dough if is necessary, and use it to fill in any gaps or holes that may have formed when you pushed it into the dish.  Make sure to leave enough pie dough on the edges so that you can fold it under itself, and make your pie crust pattern. (see photos above for some visual cues).
4. Cover the prepared pie dough with plastic wrap and freeze for 10 - 15 minutes.

BAKE THE PIE CRUST

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. Take the frozen pie crust out of the freezer and poke some holes with a fork (pierce the dough completely) on the bottom and side of the dough so that air beneath the crust can escape; this will help prevent the dough from over "puffing" and forming giant air bubbles.  
3. Line the frozen pie crust with parchment paper, large enough to cover the crust completely.  
4. Add pie weights or dry beans (I used dried Navy Beans) on top of the parchment paper, enough to fill to the top.  Trim any excess parchment paper to prevent it from burning.  
5. Bake the pie crust for 20 minutes and then remove from the oven.  
6. Carefully remove the pie weights / baking beans, and bake for another 8 - 10 minutes (or until it is golden brown.)  I baked mine for twelve minutes and it got a little bit burned, so be careful!
7. After the second bake, remove the pie from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack, for about 2 hours.  Really you just want to make sure it is cool enough so that the the filling does not melt when you put it in.  

PREPARE THE CREAM FILLING

1. In a stand mixer bowl (or using a handheld electric mixer), beat the heavy whipping cream to make some whipped cream.  After about 3 - 4 minutes it should start to look like whipped cream and form stiff peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to another bowl and set aside.
2. In the same stand mixer bowl, cream the cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla (or almond) extract until smooth.  I also decided to add in a dash of cinnamon.  
3. After all of that is mixed together add the whipped cream back in, and set the mixer on “stir” to gently mix everything together, or fold the mixture by hand using a spatula until everything is thoroughly mixed.
4. Cover and refrigerate the filling until needed.

ASSEMBLE THE PIE

1. Spoon the creamy filling mixture into the cool crust using a rubber spatula and level out the top. Then arrange the strawberries on top of the cream into whatever pattern you would like.  
2. Feel free to drizzle the strawberry juice over the top of the whole pie, or reserve the juice to drizzle over the pie when it is served.
3. Keep the pie covered and refrigerated until you are ready to serve.  

ENJOY!