Cooked Strawberry Pie

 Cooked Strawberry Pie

An old fashioned pie with BIG flavor. This post contains affiliate links to products I recommend.

PIE CRUST RECIPE: 

2 1/2 cups flour

1   teaspoon salt

2   tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening cut into small bits-I like butter flavored Crisco 

1 1/2 sticks (12 TBS) of cold unsalted butter cut into small bits

1/4 cup ice water + 2 teaspoons vinegar 

Mix sugar and salt into flour. Cut butter and shortening into flour with pastry blender or a mixer-do not overwork the dough-be gentle. When small pea-sized butter/shortening bits are visible-begin to slowly add just enough water to create a dough.  Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick. 

FILLING

4-5 cups rinsed and sliced fresh strawberries-discard tops

1 cup of granulated sugar

1/4 cup arrowroot 

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 tiny pinch of salt

2 Tbs unsalted butter-dot filling

Egg wash-egg/water/cream

Cinnamon/sugar sprinkle: 1 Tbs sugar and 1/8 tsp cinnamon 

HOW TO:

Roll out pie dough and place into an 8" or 9" pie plate.

Mix together the sugar, arrowroot, cinnamon and salt, pour over the prepared berries. Add lemon juice. Gently mix all the filling ingredients together.

Pour filling into prepared pie plate. Dot with butter.

Roll out dough round and cover pie.

Crimp edges.

Vent pie by making a few slits on the face of the pie.

*For a different look-use pie crust cutters to create shapes.  Add shapes to create a crust or add to the top of a dough-covered pie.

Pie Crust Cutters

Finishing the Pie:

Egg wash: 1 egg lightly beaten and 1 tablespoon of cool water to thin.

(1 Tablespoon sugar + 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon) -to sprinkle on top of the pie.

Lightly brush egg wash on pie (you will not use all the egg wash,

just enough to lightly glaze the dough. 

While egg wash is wet, sprinkle pie with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake in 375 degrees preheated oven-on the lowest rack for 1 hour. Check after 20 minutes-place foil to shield if at any point pie is over-browning.  

Remove pie from oven when pie is golden, bubbling from the center.  Allow to cool to room temperature before cutting.

I like to use a pie drip catcher available on Amazon: Pie Drip Catcher and in some specialty stores.  If you don't have a pie drip catcher, I  would recommend using a foil lined rimmed baking sheet under the pie to catch any drips.

Lemon Meringue Chiffon Cake

Lemon Meringue Chiffon Cake

This post contains affiliate links to products used in this recipe. 

Be sure to use a 10” Angel food pan, to hold all of the light and airy batter.  Many of us might have a hand-me-down Angel food pan from our grandmothers.  If you’re shopping for one, I find vintage Angel food pans when I’m thrifting…new pans are also available online.

Use an UNGREASED 10” Angel food cake pan— an UNGREASED pan allows the batter to rise high, climbing the walls of the cake pan.

Here’s a link to an Angel food cake/chiffon cake pan that resembles the one I use:

Chiffon Cake Pan

Bake at 325 degrees… a slightly lower oven temperature than many cakes— at the end of the bake time, for this cake-turn the oven to 350 and bake an additional 5 minutes.

This cake cools upside down. Be sure to have a wine bottle or a suitable long neck bottle the cake pan will be able to rest on when cooling.

Ingredients:

8 eggs-yolks and whites separated-room temperature 

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup water-room temperature 

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons LorAnn Bakery Lemon Emulsion (a substitute would be to replace with regular lemon extract-lemon flavor will be less)LorAnn Lemon Extract

(Can be purchased at Jungle Jim’s, or Cincinnati Cake and Candy or Michael’s or online) 

1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, add the egg whites and cream of tarter.  Beat until stiff peaks form.  Set aside.

In a second large mixing bowl.  Sift together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.  Do not skip the sifting step—this helps cake to rise and have a light texture.

To the sifted flour mixture, add the egg yolks, oil, water, lemon juice, zest and lemon emulsion.  In a stand mixer or with an electric mixer, mix on low, then medium for 1 minute, gently scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add one heaping cup of the prepared egg whites to the batter and gently fold in with a spatula. This helps to lighten the batter before it’s combined to the rest of the egg whites.

Next, add the batter back to into the egg whites one cup at a time, folding gently until a uniform batter is created. Batter will be light and foamy.

Pour the light-airy batter evenly into the UNGREASED Angel food cake pan.

Bake on the middle rack of a preheated 325 degree oven for 55 minutes.  Turn oven up to 350 and bake 5 minutes more.

Remove cake from oven to check for done-ness with a wooden skewer.  Skewer should come our cleanly, with no wet batter.

Invert cake pan, onto a long neck bottle.  Cool completely while cake rests upside down.

Use a thin bladed knife to loosen edges.  Remove from pan and place on a cake plate or cake round.

Cooked Meringue Frosting

5 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tarter

1 2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

In a heatproof bowl—create a double boiler. Put on a pot of water with about 2 inches of water- bring to a simmer and rest the heatproof bowl (glass or metal) atop the simmering pot.  Be sure the bowl doesn’t touch the hot water. Add the egg whites, cream or tarter and the sugar.  Gently whisk and stir until the mixture registers 160 on an instant read thermometer.  The sugar will be completely melted-mixture should be smooth-not grainy. Remove egg mixture from heat and place the heated egg whites in a stand mixer with whisk attachment.  Add vanilla. Beat on medium-and then high for a total of 5-7 minutes-or until stiff peaks are achieved. Frost the cooled cake with the meringue.  Using a kitchen torch, lightly toast the meringue. Serve within 6 hours of frosting and toasting for best results. 

Triple Berry Cloud Pie

Triple Berry Cloud Pie

Karri Perry-Blue Ribbon Favorites

Ingredients:

Crust:

3 room temp egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tarter

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup finely crushed saltine crackers

1/2 chopped pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tbs butter for pie plate

Filling:

1 brick cream cheese -softened (8 ounces)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3 Tbs sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

3/4 cup sliced strawberries 

3/4 cup blueberries/blackberries mixed

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Making Crust:

In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tarter and vanilla, and then mix on medium, adding the 1 cup of sugar 1/4 cup at a time. Continue to mix until stiff peaks are achieved. 

Mixture will be thick and glossy. 

Fold in the fine saltine crumbs, chopped pecans and baking powder.

In a buttered 9-10 inch pie plate-add the meringue mixture. Build up the edges and with a spoon or spatula, then create a well in the center… creating a meringue pie crust.

Place meringue-filled pie plate in the preheated oven on the middle rack for 30 minutes.  

After 30 minutes, remove from the oven-allow to cool to room temperature.

Making Filling:

Prepare berries, add cinnamon-set aside.

In a medium bowl-with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and smooth. Add the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla.  Mix until thick and soft peaks form.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the mixture for topping.

To the bowl of whipped cream/cream cheese, fold in the berries with a spatula. Mix until just combined.

Pour the berry filling into the cooled meringue crust.

Smooth the top. Add the reserved whipped cream mixture to the top, spread to create a smooth surface and fancy up the pie with extra fruit, (or even add sprinkles, or even more whipped cream if desired)

Refrigerate pie for at least 3 hours to overnight. Remove from refrigerator just before serving.