Strawberry Pie

Sorry about the delay, I'm finally feeling better!


Last weekend I made some wonderful tartlettes, they were filled with raspberry sauce, which was covered in lemon filling, and topped with fresh strawberries. They were excellent.
I planned to blog them, but they were just too complicated for most people to make.
So I decided to share this recipe instead, its simple, delicious and still pretty awe-inspiring.
My mother made these pies once for a family reunion and then was forced to bring them again for several years, because everyone loved them so much.

I know a lot of you will be tempted to use a pre-made pie crust, but I highly recommend making your own. It's simple and once you get the hang of it, no trouble at all. You could bake the crust a day ahead of time if you want. The crust recipe should be doubled if you want to use it for a pie with a top crust.

Strawberry Pie
1 3oz packet of strawberry flavored gelatin
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
1/2 cup of sugar
1 pint of strawberries (buy extra though, I didn't have enough)

1/2 cup of shortening
1 cup of flour
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
A few tablespoons of cold water

For the crust:
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt, use a pastry blender or fork to break up the shortening and mix it into the flour. Once the mixture is crumbly and the shortening is in chunks roughly the size of peas, add a few tablespoons of water, until the mixture comes together and will form a ball. (Don't over mix) Wrap in plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for about an hour.
















Cover a flat surface with flour, and roll out the dough into as close to a circle as you can manage.
Transfer the dough to a pie pan (whatever you do, do not spray the pan with nonstick spray) and crimp the edges at the top, poke holes in the bottom.
Bake the crust at 375 for about 10 minutes, basically till it's light brown.
Let the crust cool.















Whisk the gelatin, 1/2 cup of sugar, water and cornstarch in a saucepan, heat on medium till boiling, then let cool to room temperature.

Once the glaze and crust are cool, pour enough of the glaze into the pie to cover the bottom, then cut the tops of the strawberries off and arrange them in the pie crust. Once the strawberries are in place, pour the rest of the glaze over the strawberries. Let the pie set in the fridge for 1-3 hours.
















This recipe is a product of my grandmother's pie crust recipe, and a strawberry pie recipe passed down on my mother's side.