Strawberry Dream Pie

I came up with this recipe because I found a good deal on some strawberries and was trying to think of a different way of using them.  When I went looking for a dream pie recipe, all the ones I found included using gelatin.  While that in itself is not necessarily bad, in my opinion for a recipe like this, it is an unnecessary step.  So this recipe uses NO gelatin! Just sugar, strawberries, arrowroot, whipped cream, and a pre-made pie crust.  Now, this is not nearly as simple or quick as that 5-Min No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake I came up with, but it's really not that far off.  ;)

Originally I made this pie for Miss Julia's (my son's daycare provider) birthday. She & her family (including 2 teen boys) have been generously taste-testing my baked goodies as I created them for this blog.  But I wanted to give to her for her birthday something that was light, fruity, and not overtly sweet. :)  I think I scored with this one.  I can only imagine that it'll also be ideal as a summer dessert, with the combination of strawberries and whipped cream... :)

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Ingredients:
1 pint strawberries
1 C sugar
1 Tbsp thickening agent - arrowroot or corn starch
1½ C heavy whipping cream
4 packets non-sugar sweetener (like Splenda) or 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 ready-made shortbread pie crust

Directions:
Wash & remove leaves from strawberries.  Cut up entire pint by halves or quarters.

Put cut strawberries in a large saucepan, add sugar and thickening agent.  Heat saucepan on high until sugar dissolves; turn heat down to medium-high and simmer until fruit has softened and sauce is bubbling, about 15 minutes.  Be sure to stir constantly. 

Once fruit has softened and sauce has thickened, remove from heat and cool completely, minimum 2 hours.  (To speed cool, immerse saucepan in a large mixing bowl full of icewater and stir strawberry sauce for 10 minutes until completely cooled.)

While strawberry sauce is cooling, place whipping cream into mixing bowl.  Add sweetener.  Using the whisk attachment, beat whipping cream on high speed until cream has thickened and is stiff.  Set aside and refrigerate. 

When strawberry sauce has cooled off completely, take whipped cream out and fold sauce into the cream using a spatula (do not use whisk).  Blend well. 

Pour mixture into pie crust and spread evenly. Can serve immediately or cover & refrigerate and serve later.

Makes 6-8 servings.

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GBAdams
11/02/2011

Dutch Apple Pie (aka Nikkie Apple Pie)

My husband's favorite non-chocolate pie is Dutch Apple.  We recently went to an apple orchard for some fall fun, and while we did not get to pick apples (the buds were destroyed by frost last spring), I did walk out of there with a  5-lb bag of Gala apples that were brought in from the Western Slope.  So I had this bag of very fine apples, and I wondered what to do with them.  And then it hit me - make a pie!  Talk about a "duh" moment.  ;) 

So even though this is based on the Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Pie recipe, I'm going to name this after one of my good friends, Nikkie, since she is actually Dutch. And because I like how it sounds.  ;) I perfected this on my second try, and there is a bit of "cheating" here since the crust is the store-bought pre-made kind.  But the rest is totally from scratch.  My favorite part of the whole thing is the crumb topping, partly because it's so unbelievably easy to remember, and partly because it's very hard to mess up. You also can't argue with something made out of butter, flour and sugar. 

I hope you enjoy my version of the apple pie...  :)

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Ingredients:
1 pre-made pie crust (i.e. Pillsbury), at room temperature

Crumb topping (make at least 1 hr in advance) -
1 stick butter or margarine (8 Tbsp), softened to room temperature
1 C sugar
1 C flour, sifted
1 tsp salt

1½ tsp cinnamon

Pie filling -

5 medium-large apples or 8 small apples (I usually use Gala or Honeycrisp), peeled & sliced

1 Tbsp lemon or lime juice

½ C granulated sugar

¼ C brown sugar, packed

½ C flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

Prepare crumb topping:

In a small bowl, combine butter with sugar, flour and spices using a fork or pastry blender.  Mix until all the dry ingredients are a little moistened and/or you cannot see any more individual chunks of butter. Place crumb mix into quart-size zip bag and place in the fridge at least 1 hour ahead of assembling the filling so it has a chance to firm up. (I usually do it the day before so it firms up really well.)

Directions for pie filling:

Pre-heat oven to 375°F.  Unroll pre-made pie crust and place into pie tin.  Make sure there are no air bubbles by gently pressing dough into tin with fingertips. Set aside.  In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, white sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Make sure all the dry ingredients are blended well.  In a large bowl, add lemon juice to sliced apples and stir to ensure even coverage. Add sugar/flour mixture and stir well again.  Place a cookie sheet under the pie tin. (This is to catch any crumb topping and/or overflowing juices as the pie bakes.) Carefully spoon apple filling into crust. Take crumb topping mix and gently pour over the top of the apples. Make sure apples are evenly covered, edge to edge.  Pie will seem extremely tall, but be assured that it will bake down to nearly even with the edges.

Bake for 1hr 10mins or until crumb topping is a dark golden brown. Let cool at least 30 minutes, serve slightly warm or at room temperature.  Cover tightly and store in an air-tight container.  Makes 6-8 pieces.

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GBAdams
09/19/2011