Piled High Strawberry Pie

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that there are pie recipes in The Diva Sweetens the Pie. I tried to steer clear of the usual pies, like lemon meringue and cherry, just because most people have tried and true recipes for those that they love. The book contains one cool recipe for pie crust that I love. It's made with frozen butter! Other than that, though, I went with different crumb crust type recipes because they're so easy and sometimes, they really elevate the flavors of the pie.

We ate this strawberry pie a lot last summer. It's a combination of cooked strawberries and raw strawberries, which gives it such a fresh flavor.

Piled High Strawberry Pie

1 8-inch pie pan

Graham Cracker Crust

9 sheets honey graham crackers
4 tablespoon butter

Pie Filling

2 pounds strawberries
1 cup sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350.

Melt the butter. Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor until they are fine crumbs. With the food processor running, pour in the butter. Press into the pie pan with your fingers. Bake 8 - 12 minutes.

Wash the strawberries, hull, and cut into quarters lengthwise. Place two cups of the strawberries in a heavy-bottomed pot, add the sugar, and mash with a potato masher, leaving some clumps of strawberry. Add the cornstarch and mix until dissolved. Stir in the water and lemon juice and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook at a simmer (you may need to turn the heat down a bit) and cook until it thickens and turns red, approximately 2 minutes.

Pour enough of the uncooked strawberries into the prepared pie pan to cover the bottom in a single layer. They should not be perfectly arranged. Some should be turned up and others down. Ladle 1/3 of the hot strawberries over them. Add another layer of the uncooked strawberries, mounding them toward the center. Ladle another 1/3 of the cooked strawberries over them. Add the remaining strawberries, heaping them toward the middle. Ladle the remaining hot strawberries over top, slowly. (If you pour too fast it may overflow.) Try to cover all the bare strawberries.

Refrigerate until set. Serve with sweetened whipped cream. If you're feeling festive, pipe the whipped cream around the edge for a knockout appearance.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Beat the cream until it begins to hold a shape. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat.

Easy graham cracker crust. This is the only baking required!

Yum! Fresh strawberries. Note that they are cut lengthwise.

Cook until the strawberries and juices turn red.

Pile on the fresh strawberries and pour the cooked ones over them.

So pretty with whipped cream.

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