A true French Strawberry Pie is very simple while elegant and of course delicious. Light and delicate, the buttery crust melts in your mouth. Between the cookie like crust and the sweet fragrant berries lies a pillow of lightly sweet pastry cream known as Creme Patissiere.
If you were in France, you could find one of these delectable pies at every bakery you visited. Here in the states they are hard to come by. Don't let that stop you, these pies are deceptively easy to make and well worth the little effort they take. You are sure to get accolades for your baking know how as well as many requests for your 'secret recipe'.
French Strawberry Pie:
Pie Crust:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp butter (softened)
- 5 tbsp caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tbsp cold water
- 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/16 tsp salt
Method:
- Pre-heat oven to 350
- Beat egg yolk in a small bowl
- Stir in sugar and salt
- Mix in melted butter (make sure butter is softened but not hot)
- Add water and stir well
- Pour flour into a large bowl
- Stir egg mixture into flour and stir until a ball forms and dough pulls away from sides of bowl
- Flour a bakery towel or piece of waxed paper
- Place dough on floured surface
- Roll dough out to a 12" circle
- Transfer to pie plate or tart pan prick crust with the tines of a fork and bake for 30 min
- Allow to cool completely before using
Creme Patissiere :
Ingredients :
- 2 cups milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 1/3 cup flour
- 8 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Method :
- Heat milk over med low heat until steaming but not boiling
- Beat eggs in a medium size bowl
- Add sugar and vanilla to eggs and stir well
- Mix flour into egg mixture
- Pour hot milk, a little at a time, onto flour mixture. Stir well after each addition.
- When all milk has been added, pour mixture back into sauce pan
- Cook over medium heat until thickened (a good test is if a spoon dipped in the hot cream stays coated when it is pulled out)
- Cool completely then pour into crust
Strawberry Topping :
Ingredients :
- 2 pints strawberries
- 1/2 cup apricot or strawberry jam or jelly
Method :
- Wash and hull strawberries
- Place strawberries upside down on paper towels and allow to dry completely
- After pouring filling into pie crust, top entire pie with whole berries
- Warm jelly until just thinned enough to spread with a pastry brush
- Coat berries by painting on jelly using a pastry brush or pour jelly at a slow drizzle over entire pie
Jackie Milligan - My name is Jackie and I am a foodie. As a small child, my mother inspired me with the love of good fresh food made from scratch. I ...
