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“celebrating Pi day with luscious strawberry pie”
March 14th is getting close and it’s our job to find the perfect pie (or pieS) to celebrate this year’s Pi day! Since it’s a celebration, we’re not counting calories, so let’s make something super sweet that’s going to please our senses and leave us satisfied until we find yet another reason to make a pie! Does one really need a reason to enjoy a pie? I don’t think so, but if you do, now you have the perfect excuse.
To make this recipe, you’ll need a blender, mixing bowl, plastic film, pie dish, saucepan, and a lot of patience since delicious homemade pies take their time.
Start by mixing together the dry ingredients for the pie crust. Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, and salt. Place the mixture into a blender and add the cold butter cut into three to four pieces. Pulse until all the ingredients are well incorporated. After a couple of minutes of pulsing, you’ll get a crumbly paste. Transfer the batter into a large mixing bowl and beat it with a spoon until the dough starts to clump together. If your dough is sticky – don’t worry, that’s normal!
Place the dough on a kneading surface and roll it into a small flat circle, then wrap it tightly with a plastic film. Place it in the freezer for at least 30-40 minutes. If you can make the dough the day before and leave it in the freezer overnight, that would be perfect, but 40 minutes will work too.
While the dough is in the freezer, prepare the strawberry filling. Take a saucepan and place it over medium to high heat. Whisk in only half of the strawberries, together with the sugar, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and vanilla powder. Stir while the strawberries soften and lose their shape. Once the mixture starts bubbling, reduce the heat, and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Then, remove from the stove and the filling cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
The dough and the filling will be ready at about the same time. So, now it’s a good time to preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
After this, take a pie dish and grease it with cooking oil. Then, roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 10-inch circle and place it into the pie dish. Press with your fingers to make the dough fit the form of the pie dish. Cut the corners that fall out of the pie dish. Finally, take a fork and poke holes throughout the pie crust, so you can prevent it from rising too much while baking.
Take the strawberry filling and spread it over the pie crust. Prepared like this, place the pie into the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Take it out only to add the remaining strawberries over the strawberry filling, then continue to bake for another 20 to 30 minutes.
When the crust gets a nice golden color, you can take the pie out of the oven and let it cool at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before serving. It will be tough, I know, but resist the temptation to eat it right away because the taste is much much better once it’s cooled.
| Prep | Cooking time | Total | Servings |
| 1 hour | 1 hour | 2 hours | 8 |
Ingredients
For the pie crust:
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup butter (cold)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 10 tbsp cold water
- A pinch of salt
For the filling:
- 5 cups fresh strawberries (hulled and halved)
- ½ cups of brown sugar
- 2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla powder
Instructions
- Take a large bowl and whisk together the flour, brown sugar, and salt.
- After this, transfer the mixture into a blender and add the butter. Mix until the ingredients are well combined and the mixture becomes pasty.
- Transfer the batter into a bowl and gradually add the water. Beat it until the dough is crumbly, but clumps together.
- Place the dough and on a board and form a circular shape. Wrap it with a plastic film, then place it in the fridge for 40 minutes (overnight is good too).
- Take a large saucepan and place it over medium to high heat. Whisk in half of the strawberries, sugar, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and vanilla powder.
- Once the mixture starts to boil, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- After 30 minutes, remove from heat and let it rest at room temperature.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. After this, roll it on a lightly floured surface into a 10-inch circle.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
- Grease the pie dish with cooking oil.
- Place the dough in the pie dish and press with your finger to fit the dish form. Cut the extra dough from the sides, if needed.
- Take a fork and make holes throughout the dough, to prevent it from rising.
- Spread the strawberry filling over the dough.
- Place it in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Add the remaining strawberries over the strawberry filling and return to the oven for an additional 30 minutes.
- Once the pie is baked, let it cool at room temperature for 20 minutes.
