What do you do when you have strawberries and blueberries in the fridge that need to be used and a random frozen pie crust in the freezer? Make this pie of course! This pie certainly does not disappoint, even if the chocolate looks a little funky. I highly recommend this for a summer dessert. I think I might try to sneak in another before summer's end. Unless Jon seriously bans me from making desserts.
Strawberry and Blueberry Cream Pie Adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles, who adapted it from Pillsbury's Complete Cookbook
Ingredients:
1 cup cold heavy cream, divided 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/3 cup sugar ¼ to ½ teaspoon almond extract (I used vanilla) 1 pie crust for a 1-crust pie, completely baked and cooled (I used a frozen one) 2 pints fresh whole strawberries, hulled (I used just under 1 pint & supplemented the rest with about half cup of blueberries) 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)
Directions:
1. In a medium bowl (or the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), beat 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon of the cream on medium speed. When the cream is frothy, increase the speed to high and whip until the cream holds firm peaks.
2. In a separate large bowl (or the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat the cream cheese on medium speed until it’s soft and creamy. Add the sugar and extract and continue beating until combined.
3. Fold about 1/3 of the whipped cream into the cream cheese to lighten the mixture, then add the remaining cream and continue folding until it’s incorporated. Evenly spread the cream mixture in the pie crust. Arrange the strawberries, pointed side up, over the filling.
4. Melt the chocolate with the remaining 1 tablespoon cream over very low heat, stirring constantly, or in the microwave on medium power, or in a double boiler. Drizzle the chocolate over the strawberries. Refrigerate the pie until set, about 1 hour.
We used to have a rhubarb plant in our yard when I was growing up. I remember my mom digging it up one year since it basically started to overtake the yard. It came back the next year. My mom dug it up again...and it finally went away. Fast forward 5-7 years later and I started dating my now husband. He loves rhubarb - especially in pies. I wish my parents still had that rhubarb plant.
Anyways, as a belated birthday gift I made this pie for Jon not really knowing what to expect. I have had strawberry & rhubarb pie before, but never strictly rhubarb. Oh, and did I mention that I've never even made a homemade pie crust before? So I was diving into a few unknowns with this project, but I think it turned out pretty fabulous if I do say so myself. The only thing that went wrong was the size of the crusts when I rolled them out. They weren't quite large enough so I couldn't flute the crusts together that great, but there was still a slight crust around the pie.
Ingredients: 2 cupsPillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup well-chilled Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening 4 to 8 tablespoons ice cold water (I only needed 4)
Directions:
BLEND flour and salt in medium mixing bowl.
SPRINKLE half the maximum recommended amount of ice cold water over the flour mixture. Using a fork, stir and draw flour from bottom of bowl to the top, distributing moisture evenly into flour. Press chunks down to bottom of bowl with fork. Add more water by the tablespoon, until dough is moist enough to hold together when pressed together.
TIP: Test dough for proper moistness by squeezing a marble-sized ball of dough in your hand. If it holds together firmly, do not add any additional water. If the dough crumbles, add more water by the tablespoonful, until dough is moist enough to form a smooth ball when pressed together.
SHAPE dough into a ball for single pie crust. Divide dough in two for double crust or double deep dish crust, one ball slightly larger than the other. Flatten ball(s) into 1/2-inch thick round disk(s).Chill for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
ROLL dough (larger ball of dough for double crust pie) from center outward with steady pressure on a lightly floured work surface (or between two sheets of wax or pa rchment paper) into a circle 2-inches wider than pie plate for the bottom crust. Transfer dough to pie plate by loosely rolling around rolling pin. Center the rolling pin over the pie plate, and then unroll, easing dough into pie plate.
For a DOUBLE pie crust, roll larger disk for bottom crust, trimming edges of dough even with outer edge of pie plate. Fill unbaked pie crust according to recipe directions. Roll out smaller dough disk. Transfer dough carefully onto filled pie. Trim edges of dough leaving a 3/4-inch overhang. Fold top edge under bottom crust. Press edges together to seal and flute as desired. Cut slits in top crust or prick with fork to vent steam. Bake according to specific recipe directions.
Ingredients: 4 cups chopped rhubarb 1 1/3 cups white sugar 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon butter 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Combine sugar and flour. Sprinkle 1/4 of it over pastry in pie plate. Heap rhubarb over this mixture. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and flour. Dot with small pieces of butter. Cover with top crust.
Place pie on lowest rack in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.
