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Valentine's Day Strawberry Pie

Norma Giannoni
What could be sweeter than baking the cutest Strawberry Pie for your special valentine!
5 from 4 votes
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Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup freeze-dried strawberries
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed for dusting
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch-cubes
  • 1/4 cup ice water, plus more as needed

FILLING AND FINISHING

  • 6 cups fresh strawberries, halved
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp  pure vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tbsp water
  • pink food coloring gel

Instructions
 

  • In a food processor, pulse the strawberries and granulated sugar to a fine powder. Add the flour and salt, and continue to process until well combined.
  • Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles small peas.
  • Add the ice water (leave the ice cubes behind). Mix by hand until the mixture uniformly comes together but isn’t sticky or tacky. If necessary, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time.
  • Divide the pie dough in half and form each half into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap each disk tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
  • In a large bowl, mix together the strawberries, lemon juice, vanilla and salt.
  • In another small bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar and cornstarch. Add the mixture to the strawberries and toss well to combine.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of the dough to ¼ inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate and trim the excess crust around the edge with scissors.
  • Pour the filling into the pie crust, then transfer to the refrigerator while you work on the lattice.
  • Roll out the second disk of dough to ¼ inch thick. With a heart shape cookie cutter create your Valentine's Day design.
  • Chill the pie for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 425°F.
  • In a small bowl, make an egg wash by whisking together the egg white and 1 tablespoon water.
  • When the oven is preheated, brush the surface of the pie with the egg wash. Bake until the crust begins to brown slightly and the filling is bubbly, 40 to 45 minutes.

How To Paint Pie Crust 2 Ways:

  • Colored Egg Wash: Before baking use your egg wash to color the crust. Simply stir in food coloring or food gel into the egg wash and brush away! The darker the egg wash is the better it will show on your crust after it's baked.
  • Pie Crust After Baked: Using gel food coloring, dip watercolor brush into the color (you only need a tiny bit!) Dip the brush into a bit of water, and paint! Rinse the brush between colors (that's if you are using more than one color), and remember that a little bit of color goes a long way on a bake pie crust. Use as little water as possible to preserve the flakiness of the pie crust. If you use to much water the pie crust will become soggy.

Notes

BEFORE YOU START:
I love the pretty pink color of the dough before it goes in the oven. Sadly after the pie is done baking the crust loses its pretty color! How sad right? Even if you mix food coloring into the dough some colors will not take. BUT you CAN paint your pie crust to get that pretty pink color back!
There are two ways you can keep the pretty pink color. This helps the color come through more than mixing food coloring into the dough before you bake it.
How To Paint Pie Crust:
  1. Colored Egg Wash: Before baking, use your egg wash to color the crust. Simply stir in food coloring or food gel into the egg wash and brush away! The darker the egg wash is the better it will show on your crust after it's baked.
  2. Painting Pie Crust After Baked: Using gel food coloring, dip watercolor brush into the color (you only need a tiny bit!) Dip the brush into a bit of water, and paint! Rinse the brush between colors (that's if you are using more than one color), and remember that a little bit of color goes a long way on a baked pie crust. Use as little water as possible to preserve the flakiness of the pie crust. If you use too much water the pie crust will become soggy.
 
  • Experiment with how much gel to use to get the color and look you want!
  • Use as little water as possible to preserve the flakiness of the pie crust. 
  • It's much easier to paint on chilled pie crust.
  • The darker colors (purple, green, blue) tend to hold their color after baking better than lighter colors (yellow, orange, pink).
Keyword Strawberry Pie, Pie, Valentine's Day Dessert