Mother's Day: Fresh Strawberry Crumb Pie

So Mother's Day has come and gone and...yup I'm STILL pregnant! It's getting a little frustrating at this point since it doesn't look like I'm going to be giving birth anytime around my due date - unless things start progressing quickly (which I've told could happen). But I've been told that more often than not, first babies like to come late. That's OK I guess. More time to prepare right?? And more time to cook! Either way, I did enjoy psuedo-celebrating my first "unofficial" Mother's Day.

I bought a beautiful box of strawberries from Trader Joe's last week and decided to make a strawberry pie with my loot. It helps that both my mom and I love strawberries! I haven't ever made a strawberry pie before, but knew that I wanted to make one where the berries have been cooked, versus one that just features the whole berries in a cooked pie shell. While those are prettier, I am not a fan of that jelly type stuff that you have to coat the strawberries with.

I found this recipe online from Emeril Lagasse and it sounded right up my alley. It's basically a traditional fruit pie with a crumb topping. It made for a delicious end to a very wonderful Mother's Day! And hopefully I'll be a mother in the full sense of the word very, very soon! Enjoy!


Strawberry Crumb Pie
www.foodnetwork.com


Pie Crust:
1 stick butter
3 ounces cream cheese
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch salt

For the crumb topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup oatmeal
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly

For the filling:
6 cups (2 pounds) quartered strawberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest

Directions
In the bowl of a food processor combine butter and cream cheese and process until smooth. Add flour and salt and process just until mixture comes together to form a ball. Remove dough from the processor and shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

While the pie crust is chilling, prepare the crumb topping. Combine the 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and the oatmeal in a small bowl and toss to combine. Add the melted butter and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Working on a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough out to a thickness of 1/8-inch and fit it into a 9 or 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Return pie crust to the refrigerator for 20 minutes, then blind bake until lightly golden, about 18 minutes. Remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool while you assemble the strawberry filling. Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl combine the strawberries with the sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch and toss to combine. Spoon the strawberry filling into the prepared piecrust and spread the crumb topping evenly over the top of the filling. Bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour, or until filling is bubbly and crust and crumb topping are golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature before serving.

Before we get into the chocolate decadence of this dessert, I have to say
that the name of this pie brings back childhood memories of learning how to spell Mississippi. I don't think I'll ever misspell that state name! Do you remember the sing-songy way we were taught how to spell it? M-i-ss-I(more emphasis)-s-s-I(more emphasis again)-p-p-i. Oh well I digress. Back to the make-up of this dark, muddy pie.

This long-standing dessert was conceived in the South and is supposed to mirror the muddy waters of the Mississippi Delta. I found this pie in my Newlyweds' Cookbook by Ryland, Peters and Small. I received this beautifully photographed book as a wedding present and have referred to it several times for party and entertaining ideas. This pie was surprisingly easy to make - and easy to make subsitutions for things I lacked in my pantry.

For example, I had to substitute about a cup of panko bread crumbs to make up for my lack of sufficient graham cracker crumbs. I also had to use semi-sweet chocolate rather than bittersweet - because again, it's all I had on hand and I was trying to get rid of some pantry items. Finally, I had to use all light brown sugar as I don't keep dark brown sugar on hand. I also threw in about a cup of shredded sweetened coconut that had to be used up as well. My substitutions and additions blended in beautifully and didn't alter the tastiness of this pie at all. So if you're looking for a fancy, rich and chocolatey dessert this Mississippi Mud Pie is sure to do the trick. Enjoy!

Mississippi Mud Pie

The Newlyweds' Cookbook

Cookie crumb base

8 oz graham crackers crushed to make about 2 2/3 cups crumbs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Chocolate filling

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 3/4 cups heavy cream

Grease a 9-in springform pan and set aside.

To make the base, put the crackers in a food processor and blend until fine crumbs form. Alternatively, put the crackers in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Transfer the crumbs to a mixing bowl.

Put the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of steaming, but not boiling water and melt gently (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water). Remove from the heat, stir gently, then stir into the cracker crumbs. When well mixed, transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and using the back of a spoon, press onto the base and about halfway up the sides of the pan. Chill in the refrigerator while making the filling.

To make the filling, put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of steaming but not boiling water and melt gently (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water). Remove from the heat and stir gently, then let cool.

Put the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl and using electric beaters or mixer, beat until thick and foamy. Beat in the cream followed by the melted chocolate. Pour the mixture into the cookie crust and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes until just firm. Let cool for a few minutes and then remove from the pan. Serve the pie at room temperature. The pie can be made up to 2 days in advance and kept, well covered, in the refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.

The Pie Place on Lake Superior

After a long, invigorating hike along the Kadunce River, we all figured we earned ourselves a nice, hearty lunch. The Pie Place fit the bill.

Modest, homemade food and a delicious assortment of fresh baked pies for dessert. From fruit pies - cherry, berry, apple, peach and rhubarb to cream pies filled with banana, coconut, rum raisin and lemon meringue. And even that southern favorite maple pecan pie found it's way onto their menu. But we had to eat some real food before we could pick out our pie.

For me I ordered the Mexican corn soup and the Landslide Special - which consisted of a small salad and a tomato and goat cheese quiche with fresh basil. The soup was spicy and chock full of juicy, sweet corn kernels. A great way to warm up after hiking on that damp morning.

The quiche was light and fluffy with just the right amount of tomato and goat cheese. It also gave me a sneak peek at the flaky, buttery pie crust that is used for the dessert pies as well as the savory pie.

Then came the fun part. We each ordered a different type of pie and then went round with all our forks. And we had to order everything a la mode because you need vanilla ice cream with warm fruit pie.

I ordered the cherry praline pie - bright red cherries sat underneath a crunchy sweet praline crumb topping. I finished every bite.

The dutch apple crumb pie was just like grandmom used to make. Sweet apples, lots of crumbly topping and a nice scoop of ice cream melting down on top.

The mixed berry pie sported blueberries, blackberries and raspberries if I remember correctly. It actually ended up being my favorite because it was sweet and tart - a great combination. The three berries blended nicely and left you with a party of flavors.

Finally, my friend Kathie ordered the Maple Pecan Pie. She had been thinking about it all morning long on the hike. Then when we got to the Pie Place, it was the first question she asked our server, who told her that unfortunately they didn't have the maple pecan pie ready for lunch that day. She was crushed! Then he returned saying they had just taken it out of the oven so perhaps they would be ready for serving once lunch was finished. Fortunately for Kathie, the pie had cooled enough for them to serve her a much anticipated piece.

It was quite sweet and buttery, but had a nice layer of crunchy pecans. I'm not a huge pecan pie fan, but as far as pecan pies go it was pretty good. And Kathie was very happy she got the pie she hiked so long for.
Here's a pic of Kathie with her piece - look at that grin: