Grammy Renninger's Fresh Strawberry Pie

There is treasure in your own backyard!  I’m not suggesting that you get out a shovel and start to dig.  I’m referring to the hidden “gems” that are all around us.  For the most part we tend to ignore them.  Perhaps we’re too close, or perhaps we can’t see the forest for the trees.  Whatever it is, it’s as if we’re blind to them.  Consider the historic sites that abound in our area.  How many have actually visited Valley Forge National Park, Peter Wentz Farmstead, Pottsgrove Manor, Mill Grove, or Pennypacker Mills?  And yet, people travel thousands of miles just to see these places.

It’s the same with businesses in the area.  As we become more and more developed it becomes almost a knee-jerk response to frequent the chains or the “big stores.”  The little guy or the out-of-the-way establishment that is tucked across town gets ignored.  And yet what they have to offer is far better than what any impersonal mega-store can hope to provide.  Such is the case with fresh fruit and vegetables.

I’m a chump for strawberries anytime of the year.  Off-season, invariably I’m disappointed.  You think I’d learn.  Double the price for pithy, white-centered, hard nuggets of cardboard.  But this week I stopped at Renninger’s Farm on Second Avenue in Royersford and purchased 3 quarts of real strawberries.  I could tell they were real just by looking at them.  I could tell they were real when I picked them up and felt the heft of the solid, juice-laden berries.  And I could tell they were real when their aroma permeated the inside of my car on the ride home.  Even at this time of the year, “store-bought” strawberries can’t do that.  Why?  Because they were picked before they were ripe.  Not these beauties.  They stayed on the plant where God intended them to remain up until they were at the peak of readiness.

I couldn’t wait to get my new acquisitions home and make my first fresh strawberry pie.  To make things more exciting, I was armed with Grammy Renninger’s fresh strawberry pie recipe.  Farmer Jay’s daughter, Jennie, emailed it to me, indicating that it is her favorite.  It’s incredibly easy…so easy even a dad can do it..so give it a whirl, especially while the strawberries are in season.

Now I have to be totally up-front with you.  First, I have never made my own pie crust.  Never.  Yes, I know I grew up in a bakery, but the pie crusts were already made by my dad.  I just had to fill them.  Several friends have provided me with their sure-fire pie crust recipes.  I’ve just ever taken the time.  Plus, I wanted strawberry pie, and I wanted it ASAP!

My second confession is that my strawberry pie did not come out exactly the way it’s supposed to.  Oh it was delicious…totally delicious.  It just didn’t set up the way it’s supposed to.  So, I’m looking for some help here.  Let me know what you think.

GRAMMY RENNINGER’S FRESH STRAWBERRY PIE

I doubled the recipe and made two.  This is the whole berry pie.
The lead picture at the top of the blog was made with halved berries.

Ingredients:

1 baked pie shell (9”)

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1¾ to 2 quarts of fresh, ripe strawberries

The first step is to bake the pie shell.  Use a frozen one, like I did, if you don’t want to make your own, and follow the baking directions on the shell.  I used a 9” deep pie shell.  Putting dry rice or beans in the shell while baking will keep it from bulging away from the pan while baking.  Don't forget to also pierce the bottom with a fork before baking.  Allow to cool.

Mash ¾ of a quart of ripe strawberries in a saucepan.  I used a wooden mallet and mashed the tar out of them.  Add the cornstarch (after dissolving it in about 3-4 Tablespoons of water), the lemon juice and sugar.  Cook on medium heat until thick and "clear."  Obviously, the mixture isn't going to be clear, because it's filled with strawberries.  But the liquid part with lose its milky appearance and become clear and shiny.

The “cloudiness” that is present when you first start to cook, will lesson as the mixture thickens.  At the same time the liquid will become clearer.  Allow this mixture to cool.  Add a heaping quart of halved berries, stir until all are coated and then spoon into the baked pie shell and refrigerate.  Delicious served with fresh whipped cream, (see below).

I doubled the recipe and make two pies.  One was with the halved strawberries, and I decided to make the other one with whole berries.  Everything looked fine.  The cooked mixture seemed to thicken nicely, but the pies never set.  They stayed fairly “oozy” and were impossible to serve as slices of pie.  My first attempt was just not as “easy as pie!”

I did a little research online and possible causes could have been the acidity of the berries, or that cornstarch, if over-cooked will begin to break down.  I don’t think that either was the case.  The cooked mixture thickened in a relatively short period of time, and I removed it from the stove as soon as it did.  Any suggestions you may have will be appreciated.

The photograph above is misleading.  In the interest in truth in advertising, I confess the following.  In order to obtain a “slice shot” I had to virtually freeze the pie.  This piece is from the whole berry pie.  If you look closely, or click on the picture and enlarge it, you can tell.  Within minutes, several of the berries “landslide-ed” onto the plate.  But make no mistake about it, the taste was absolutely out of this world.  It was, without exaggeration, the best strawberry pie I have ever tasted.  It just looked like a hillside in southern California.  And with the whipped cream on top?  That was the icing on the cake…if you know what I mean!

FRESH WHIPPED CREAM

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy whipping cream (not ultra pasteurized*)

½ to 1 teaspoon vanilla

1-2 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar (or sugar substitute)

Make sure everything is cold.  Use a metal bowl and chill cream and bowl in freezer for a few minutes before beating.  Even chill beaters from your mixer.

Begin whipping cream, slowly at first, then increase speed.  When it begins to thicken, add the vanilla and sugar.  Whip vigorously until soft peaks begin to form.  Do not overbeat, or mixture will become lumpy because you’ve started to make butter.

Refrigerate any leftovers.  Whipped cream will keep for several days, but may need to be re-whipped as it may lose the air content you have beat into it.

*Ultra pasteurized cream does not whip as easily.