From her book of handwritten retro recipe cards and clippings, my grandmother’s strawberry pie might be my favorite thing she made. It’s easy and so tasty!
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but one of my most prized possessions is my grandmother’s recipe book. My grandmother is my top cooking inspiration and this early seventies style recipe book of hers is stuffed full of clippings and scribbled recipes, some that I remember and some that I don’t (like this easy pie that she made at Christmas.
One of my favorite things that my grandmother made was strawberry pie. This pie doesn’t contain that goopy glaze that you buy in a bag at the grocery store. It’s cool, refreshing, and delicious, and it tastes just as good now as it did when my grandmother made it when I was a child.
I remember that from time to time, she would buy a strawberry pie from Shoney’s instead of making it. I definitely preferred her homemade pies. I don’t remember if she ever bought this junk, but I remember going through a phase where I loved that icky red goopy “glaze” that you can buy at the grocery store next to the strawberries and the little sponge cake shells. Honestly, I don’t even know why you would bother with that when my grandmother’s strawberry pie is so simple.
There are actually two versions of this pie in her recipe book. One is made with plain gelatin, the other with strawberry Jell-O. While there are definitely a few recipes on this earth that just beg for a packaged of processed Jell-O or pudding (hello, Watergate salad), I really don’t see any reason to make this strawberry pie with flavored gelatin. Fresh strawberries shine on their own, no need to “add” to their flavor.
I love this pie plain or with whipped cream. I laughed that my grandmother’s recipe calls for whipped cream, but she always used Cool Whip. Isn’t it funny how our grandmothers saw convenience foods as a wonderful timesaver and here I am doing everything the old-fashioned way? Full circle! This pie was amazing. Is amazing….there’s still half of it in my fridge!
Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite and the Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!
Mary
Yield: 1 9-inch pie
1 hr, 10 Prep Time:
1 hr, 10 Total Time:
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Ingredients
- 1 pie crust, baked and cooled (I love to use my deep dish tart pan for all of my pie baking)
- 1 1/2 pounds strawberries, hulled (I cut mine in half)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 envelope plain gelatin
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 1/2-3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Place 3 cups of the berries in a bowl and toss with the powdered sugar. Allow to macerate for at least an hour.
- Crush the remaining berries with a potato masher, fork, etc.
- Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup cool water. Bring the cup of crushed strawberries to a boil with the remaining cup of water in a small pan; boil for two minutes.
- Stir the cornstarch and sugar together and add to the berries. Cook and stir until the mixture is clear. Stir in the gelatin until dissolved.
- Arrange the macerated berries in the cooled pie crust. Pour the boiled berry mixture over the strawberries. Chill for at least 12 hours.
- Serve with whipped cream.
Notes
The prep time includes inactive time to macerate the berries.
