Craving restaurant-quality strawberry pie? This recipe has your name on it

It’s my fault that I didn’t have enough home grown strawberries to make a pie today. All because I allowed the little ones to pick ripe berries from my strawberry pots. Small hands discovering plump red berries among the leaves captivates their attention. They left with stained hands and happy smiles.

So it was off to the grocery to buy more strawberries for this seasonal specialty.

I tested out several strawberry pie recipes but kept coming back to an adapted favorite from the Three Many Cooks site.

The filling for this pie is more soft set than stiff.

Note the cornstarch is mixed with cool water before cooking. Don’t be tempted to try to dissolve it in hot water to hurry the cooking process. That will result is a clumpy mess.

Use fresh, not thawed frozen berries, which exude too much juice for the filling to thicken properly.

If you’ve eaten strawberry pie at a restaurant and wish you could recreate it at home, this recipe has your name on it.

My family’s favorite fresh strawberry pie

Ingredients

3 quarts/3 pounds fresh strawberries

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon powdered pectin

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 level tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons cool water

Squeeze of lemon juice (a teaspoon or so) – optional but good

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pie shell, pre-baked

Whipped cream for garnish

Instructions

Slice a generous quart of strawberries. Set aside for filling.

Cut 2 heaping cups of the best berries in half and set aside for the top. Measure after cutting.

Take another 2 cups of strawberries and cut in half. Place in food processor and puree until very smooth.

Measure out 1-1/4 cups of the puree and pour into saucepan with sugar, pectin and salt.

Bring to a simmer over low heat, whisking constantly. Continue to cook until mixture foams a bit, another minute or so.

Remove from heat and skim off foam.

Whisk cornstarch, water, lemon juice and vanilla.

Put pan back on heat and whisk in cornstarch mixture. Continue to cook and whisk until mixture is stiff. It starts out opaque and will turn fairly translucent when cooked a few minutes.

Remove 1/4 cup of mixture. Set aside for glaze.

Put remaining mixture into a bowl and lay plastic wrap on surface to keep filling from developing a “skin”. Let cool to room temperature.

Stir in the quart of sliced strawberries.

Pour into pie shell and smooth top.

Arrange the 2 cups of halved strawberries in a pattern on top. Start at the outside and work into the center.

Now you’re ready to glaze. If glaze is too thick to brush on, add a bit of water until you get the right consistency. Brush glaze on top of berries.

Refrigerate several hours for filling to set before serving with a dollop of whipped cream.

Glazed gelatin strawberry pie

A straight-forward, vintage recipe, The glaze is a homemade version of store-bought glaze and is better tasting. Gelatin allows the pie to cut fairly easily. Check out my abouteating.com site for recipe and photo.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Strawberry pie recipe by Rita Nader Heikenfeld