It’s strawberry season, and one of my favorite ways to showcase them is in this fresh strawberry pie, it’s the perfect summer dessert!
I have to admit I’ve been making this for years, it goes way back to the seventies, yes, the seventies’ when I was a young mother and wife. I would get so excited when I received my new batch of recipe cards from Betty Crocker, I would quickly file and categorize them into my lime green recipe box. Today that recipe card library is considered “vintage” or retro and I’ve even seen them show up on ebay every now and then.
When I look at those cards now I have to laugh at what use to be considered popular dishes back then, lots of saucy things, aspics, jello molds filled with everything under the sun even meat!
Times sure have changed but this recipe has always been a favorite, every time we had a summer cookout I would proudly serve this up for dessert and it was a hit each time, to this day I still make it at least a couple of times during the summer and you know what? It’s still a hit!
The ingredients are classic and simple and still relevant for today, fresh berries, a baked pie crust and a glaze made with the berries along with some sugar to sweeten and cornstarch to thicken it, that’s it!
Serve it up nice and cold with fresh whipped cream floating on top, hello summertime!
You’ll be dreaming about this when there’s four feet on snow on the ground, I promise.
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- 1 9" baked pie shell, either homemade or store-bought, cooled
- 7- 8 cups of fresh strawberries, stems cut off
- FOR GLAZE
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
- possible extra water
- 2 drops of natural red food coloring, optional
- whipped cream for serving
- Blind bake your pie shell. prick it and place some parchment and pie weights on top so pastry doesn't shrink down on you, then set it aside to cool.
- Make your glaze by placing a heaping cup of strawberries into a small food processor or blender, process until it turns into a puree, then pour it into a measuring cup, it should measure 1¼ cups total, if not add some water.
- In a small sauce pan on medium heat add the sugar, cornstarch and berry puree and optional food coloring, stir until it thickens then let it bubble for 2 more minutes continuing to stir then take pan off the heat and let it cool down for 15 minutes.
- ASSEMBLY;
- Spread half of the glaze onto the bottom and sides of the cooked pie shell, then place fresh berries all around, cut side down filling the bottom, then take the rest and fill in the gaps on top of the berry base, piling them high, always cut side down for presentation.
- Spoon the remaining glaze all around and on top of the berries, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours so the glaze can set and it will be easier to cut.
- Be gentle when cutting it, then serve with fresh whipped cream.
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
This is also a favorite of mine! I also do this when blueberries are inexpensive
This looks exactly what my mom made while I was growing up (in Downer’s Grove), but hers was a shortbread crust. So amazing! Thank you for jogging my memory – I will make this for my kids!
This is one of those dishes that will never go out of style!
Marie – That pie will never go out of style. It’s a beauty and with local strawberries in season, it’s a natural winner. I have a similar strawberry pie recipe from the 70s and a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook that uses a layer of pastry cream on the bottom. I cannot wait to get my hands on some great berries and make your pie. By the way, I love the fork in that photo too.
Back in the 1960s and 1970s I also received cards with hundreds of recipes and had so much fun cooking from them. One set I just gave my son and his wife one of the boxes. I miss those days but cooking for one takes a whole new thought process. Girls have fun while you have lots of people and ingenious thought of things to make.
Beautiful! A wonderful way to embrace springtime!
It certainly is one beauty of a pie! I looks so delicious, I can almost taste those ripe, plump strawberries. And would you believe I’ve never made a strawberry pie? By the time I would want to make a dessert the strawberries were gone :-(. Perhaps now that we don’t have a houseful I’ll be able to get a dessert made. And I didn’t get the cards but I do have my first cookbook — A Betty Crocker cookbook and my hubby had to put duck tape on the bind. Our dear neighbor knew how much I liked to cook so she gave me that book for my 13th birthday. You’ve certainly inspired me to make a strawberry pie. Buona giornata!