I don’t remember Mom making a FLAG pie, but if she ever did, it would probably be from this recipe. It’s an easy and fun pie to make, especially when the first strawberries of the season have ripened.
I’ve taken her same recipe and made some holiday additions on top. Adding whipped cream and a rough layout of the American flag with strawberries and blueberries – YUM! This pie is a special crowd pleaser on special holidays.
Strawberries are the early berries of the year. In our neck of the woods, they would appear for the picking anytime from early to late June. We would harvest the plump red bombs from our strawberry patch before anything else was ready to harvest. And we knew not far behind would be a delicious strawberry pie from Mom’s kitchen. After we moved, we lost missed those beautiful strawberry beds and began to pick our own at some other local providers. The local strawberries were always packed with flavor. Every year we looked forward to this special treat from our patch.
When we had our own strawberry patches, Dad would spread straw between the rows of strawberry plants to help trap the moisture for their roots. At my very young age, the rows appeared to go on forever, especially when I had to hoe a row or pick the berries, bent over all morning. But at the end of the day, that was all forgotten as we dined on a special pie prepared by Mom.
Each of us kids were assigned to help weed the strawberry patch. Once the blossoms set up the berries, Dad would be out there checking for just the right time for picking. Then we would join Mom to do the picking while Dad was off at work. We learned very quickly which ones to pick and which ones to leave to gather more blushing red color. We learned how to carefully turn the berries over to check for red all around before snipping them off with the thumbnail. You certainly didn’t want to pick the berries that were bright red on one side and still green on the underside.
The next step was to carefully pour the buckets of red bounty out on the long picnic table to hull them, picking off the green tops. Of course, there was no hulling tool to use, so by the time we were done each day, we all had red thumbs and fingers from snipping the tops. Mom called it hulling the strawberries.
In between freezing or canning strawberry jam, Mom would make a beautiful strawberry pie, with homemade whipped cream on top. It would be a treat saved for supper when Dad was home.
So, a few years ago, hunting through Mom’s recipes for various family favorite recipes, I ran across her Strawberry Pie (super!). That’s what she had written at the top of the recipe card…(super!)…and I remember IT WAS DELICIOUS! I have not had this pie recipe since I was a kid. In fact, I have never actually made this particular one. I’ve tried many others, but her version takes me home – ALL the way home. What a cozy feeling.
And, you know what? I don’t have to worry about rolling out a crust! Her recipe for the crust uses Bisquick as a “pat down” crust. No rolling pin needed. I love it! Well, here it is.
Prep your pan:
Use a 9” pie pan or an 8”x8” baking pan.
Preheat your oven:
Make sure your oven has been preheated to 450F degrees well before your crust is ready to bake.
Gather up your Crust Ingredients:
1 C Bisquick
1 C Butter (1/2 stick), ole* COLD
Add 2-3 T H2O** (water), boiling
Gather up your Strawberry Filling Ingredients:
1 C Sugar
1 C H2O** (Water)
3 T Cornstarch
2 T Corn syrup (white)
1 Pkg Wild Strawberry Jello (3 oz)
Strawberries, cleaned and hulled
Gather up the Homemade Whipped Cream supplies:
1-2 C Heavy Whipping Cream
¼ C Powdered sugar
1 t Vanilla extract
Make and Bake the Crust:
-Mom says to mix it all like a pie crust. I remember she used to cut the cold butter into the Bisquick with a pastry cutter until it the mixture was similar to a lot of pea sized pieces. Then sprinkle in the boiling water and mix until combined. I’m going by memory, but I don’t think she mixed it very long. Seems she didn’t want it to get tough.
-Pat the dough into the pie or baking pan.
-Bake the crust at 450F degrees for 8-10 minutes. I don’t remember her blind baking it with ceramic beads or dried beans in the bottom. But I’ll blind bake it with my metal beads so the pie crust does not puff up. First, I rumple up a 12”x12” piece of parchment paper and then spread it out on top of the unbaked crust so it lays on the crust and a little up the sides. Place my metal beads on top of the parchment paper. Then bake it, watching to make sure it does not get too brown around the edges.
-Cool the crust completely before adding the strawberry filling.
Cook the filling:
-In a medium saucepan on top of the stove, mix the sugar, water and cornstarch, cooking until it’s thick and clear. I usually whisk the sugar and cornstarch together before adding it to the water. It helps keep the cornstarch from clumping. And, I hate clumps in my strawberry filling.
-Mom’s notes say to add the white corn syrup while the mixture is still cooking, near the end.
-Then stir in the 3 ounces of the Wild Strawberry Jello.
-Cool the filling. You don’t want to add it when it’s hot or you’ll cook the strawberries. That wouldn’t be very pretty.
How about some Homemade Whipped Cream?
-Sometimes Mom served a scoop of whipped cream with each slice of pie. Yum! You choose if you want to serve the non-dairy whipped topping or the real stuff. I prefer the real thing with Mom’s SB Pie.
-With an electric mixer, beat a cup or so of heavy whipped cream until it forms firm peaks. You can beat 1 or 2 cups of the heavy cream depending on how much you think you need.
-Add half of powdered sugar and stir in a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Taste it and add more powdered sugar if you want it sweeter.
-Beat it all together, making sure you end up with firm peaks. Set aside in the refrigerator.
Assemble the Strawberry Pie:
-Arrange strawberries in the cooled crust so they are packed in. If the strawberries are large you might want to slice them in half or quarters. This is your chance to form a fancy pattern if you like.
-Pour the cooled filling over, sealing in all the berries. Make sure they are all covered.
-“Serve with Cool Whip, whipped cream or ice cream,” according to her instructions. But this time I’m decorating it for a family holiday celebration.
-Clean and towel dry some blueberries and line them up in the upper left corner to create the field of blue and stars on the flag...on top of the whipped cream. Leave a few white spaces to depict stars.
- Then line up the cleaned and towel-dried strawberries (sliced or quartered) in lines to replicate the stripes on the flag. -You’re done! It’s ready to show off and enjoy with friends and family. If you have a large crowd, you might want to make two or three.
Whoever you share your “Mom’s FLAG Strawberry Pie” with enjoy it and, “Bake your own Memories!”