Fresh Strawberry Pie
Fresh strawberry pie is an easy, no-bake pie with made with fresh strawberries in a sweet glaze chilled in a prebaked pie crust. A juicy burst of berry is in every bite!
We are fortunate that we have a nice little farmer’s market about five minutes from our house. Every year, they close down the week before Christmas for two months. As the month of March approaches, I start looking for signs of life again. It’s become a sign of spring for me. Not long after they open, fresh strawberries from Louisiana start arriving.
By that time, all the homemade jams and jellies I made the previous summer are long gone. I always buy at least one entire flat of strawberries for Homemade Strawberry Jam and Strawberry Fig Preserves. This year I put aside a couple of pints to make Fresh Strawberry Pie.
What You’ll Need
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup 7-Up soda (Sprite or another lemon-lime flavored soda will also work)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 (3 ounce box) of strawberry flavored gelatin
- 1.5 pints of fresh strawberries (about 2-3 cups)
- 1 prebaked pie crust
Why you Need to Prebake the Pie Crust
Prebaking, or blind baking, refers to baking an unfilled pie crust until brown or cooked through. This is a necessary step for pies that are not baked in the end, such as this one. Without baking the pie crust beforehand, you will end up with a raw crust.
How to Prebake a Pie Crust
If using homemade pie crust, roll out the dough until it’s 1/8-inch thick and measures one-inch beyond the edge of the pie plate. Fit the pie crust into a pie plate. There are two methods of prebaking a pie shell:
Docking
This involves pricking the bottom of the pie crust with a fork to allow steam to escape. Prick the crust gently so not to tear it. Before putting it in the oven, you can brush on an egg yolk mixed with a teaspoon of water. The egg yolk will give the crust a glossy sheen and create a protective barrier between the crispy crust and the filling.
Pie Weights
The second method is to line the unbaked shell with parchment or foil and fill it with pie weights. If you don’t have pie weights, you can use dried rice, beans, even loose change! If you use dried rice or beans, you can reuse them as pie weights, but they can not be cooked and eaten. The weights hold the crust in place and prevent bubbles from forming from escaping steam.
Bake the pie crust
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the pie in the oven. Bake for 9-10 minutes until the crust starts to turn golden brown. Remove the crust from the oven. Remove the weights and the foil.
Make the strawberry filling
In a medium saucepan, combine one cup of white granulated sugar with three tablespoons of cornstarch, one cup of lemon-lime soda and ¼ teaspoon salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture becomes thick. This should take about 10 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in one small (3 ounce) box of strawberry flavored gelatin. Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Pour in the sliced strawberries and stir until they are evenly mixed in.
Assemble the pie
Pour the filling into the prebaked pie shell. Loosely cover the pie with plastic wrap and place the pie in the refrigerator. Allow the pie to chill for at least 4 hours to set. If you can allow it to set for eight hours, even better. To serve, carefully cut the pie into equal slices and top with a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream.
How to store leftovers
Fresh strawberry pie should be stored covered in the refrigerator. The pie will last about a week in the refrigerator. This pie does not freeze.
More Pie Recipes:
- Step-By-Step Guide To Lattice Pie Crust
- 5 Tips For Making The Best Flaky Homemade Pie Crust From Scratch
- Lemon Icebox Pie
- Chocolate Meringue Pie
Fresh Strawberry Pie
Ingredients
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup 7-Up or other lemon-lime flavored soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 (3 ounce box) strawberry flavored gelatin
- 1.5 pints fresh strawberries wash, hulled and sliced (about 2.5-3 cups)
- 1 prebaked pie crust
- Whipped cream optional
Instructions
- Combine sugar, cornstarch, soda and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the mixture starts to thicken, about 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Add the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
- Add the sliced strawberries. Pour the mixture into the prebaked pie crust. Chill the pie in the refrigerator until set, four hours minimum but eight hours is best.
- Serve with whipped cream if desired.
