Fresh Strawberry Pie

PP, which stands for Piotr i Paweł (Peter and Paul), is a mini-supermarket behind our dorm. Every year around this time, they start selling strawberries by kilos. I remember buying a 2 kg box of strawberries last year and ended up throwing half of it away because it rotted before I could finish it all. This year, PP 變聰明了 and they're selling it by 500g or 1kgs. 500gs for 3.49zl (41NT) and 1kg for 6.49 (about 76NT) SOOOOOOO便宜!!! How could I resist not buying another box?? So yea, I decided to make a strawberry pie and bought the 1kg box. I've had different kinds of strawberry pies before (the mousse-y kind), but the 1st time I had one like this was in high school...junior year I think? Jinny bought an entire pie from the bake sale and we ate it during lunch. It was so good that I tried to make it at home with a different recipe that used only cornstarch (no gelatin because my health-freak parents won't let me buy jello...too much artificial coloring/flavoring they said). It turned out alright... not as good as the one Jinny bought though. It was too sweet and the color was ugly. Looked kind of like this but 10 times uglier. Hahaha. I gave up on trying again because strawberries in Taiwan are expensive. So just imagine how happy I was when I saw dirt cheap strawberries at PP :D! Hao bah, here's the recipe:

Basic Flaky Pie Crust (SEE NEXT POST FOR THE NEW AND IMPROVED RECIPE)
from www.allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening, chilled
• 3 tablespoons ice water

DIRECTIONS

• Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium size bowl.
• With a pastry blender, cut in the cold shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water over flour. Toss mixture with a fork to moisten, adding more water a few drops at a time until the dough comes together.
• Gently gather dough particles together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
• Roll out dough, and put in a pie plate. Fill with desired filling and bake.

Comments:
This recipe makes one 9 inch pie. I have a 12'' pie pan so i just added the ingredients as needed and poured in a little bit of vanilla extract. I think I added a little bit too much of the vanilla because the crust tasted kind of... soapy to me. So if you're gonna add vanilla, remember to add a bit of sugar in it too.

Fresh Strawberry Pie
from www.allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

• 2 (8 inch) pie shells, baked
• 2 1/2 quarts fresh strawberries
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 (3 ounces) package strawberry flavored gelatin

DIRECTIONS

• In a saucepan, mix together the sugar and corn starch; make sure to blend corn starch in completely.
• Add boiling water, and cook over medium heat until mixture thickens. Remove from heat.
• Add gelatin mix, and stir until smooth. Let mixture cool to room temperature.
• Place strawberries in baked pie shells; position berries with points facing up.
• Pour cooled gel mixture over strawberries.
• Refrigerate until set. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Comments:
This recipe makes 2 pies so i halved it.
I used about 1/3 cups of sugar instead of 1/2 C since the gelatin is already sweet.
It is better to add warm water (instead of boiling) to the sugar+cornstarch mixture and let it heat up until it thickens. This way the cornstarch will dissolve evenly without the lumps. Remember to keep on stirring the mixture until it thickens.
After adding the gelatin, the mixture will look like Jam. If it looks too thick to pour, add a some water (but not too much!).
Pour the mixture evenly over the strawberries. Make sure you cover all the 洞洞.

This recipe is fairly easy and good. I give my pie a 7 out of 10. The filling was a 9 but the crust was 5. So overall, it's a 7. Mr. Lo liked it but i think he's just saying so 因為他怕說錯話以後就沒東西吃了... hohoho. I'm gonna make this pie again and i'll remember to update on how it turned out.

Oh, by they way, Mr. Lo and I made Pizza again.
SOOO GOOD I TELL YOU.