We are in the thick of strawberry season at the Force house! Truly it is one of my favorite times of year. Seeing the kids in the garden picking the fruits of their labor, or at least mom and dad's labor, is really very rewarding. Seeing their red little faces and sticky hands with strawberry juice smeared all over them is really a special sight. We're lucky if we're able to get any extras up into the kitchen by the time they're done eating them straight from the garden, but on particularly good haul days, we get a few extras to throw together a yummy dessert or to enjoy with lunch.
We had a decent amount left after the garden feeding frenzy this past weekend so I whipped up this Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie with a Graham Cracker Crust. It screamed summer to me! And with the 90° + weather we've been having lately, seemed only fitting.
The strawberries are sweet with that tart bite that this family knows and loves so well, the cream cheese frosting is light and sweet with a touch of lemon to compliment the strawberries and the graham cracker crust is the perfect, rich vessel to enjoy each bite. This dessert was very quick to make and honestly looked way fancier than it was.
We have been growing our garden for the last 5 years and when we first began, we planted 10 little strawberry roots in a small patch knowing it would take at least 3 years to get any fruit from them and not expecting the patch to explode. Turns out, strawberries are quick spreaders and they have more or less invaded outside our raised beds and into the mulch and kind of all over. Occasionally when we move dirt around from the garden to make way for composted dirt, they get transplanted into a random part of the yard. I'm sure it will only be a matter of years before we have a few different strawberry patches. Either way, they bring us a lot of joy and fruit each summer.
On the third year we were so excited to pick our whole 20 strawberries. This year, each time we go out, we bring in 1-2 pounds. The birds are looking quite happy too if they get out there before the kids and I do. It's nice to not spend a fortune at Costco on our usual weekly berry haul though knowing we are getting some fruit from our garden for a few weeks each summer.
I'm a huge fan of strawberries with cream cheese but the addition of sugar can make it overly sweet, overpowering the tart of the strawberry. And depending on your strawberries, it's important to let that flavor shine, especially when they're so fresh and in the peak of summertime picking. For this reason, I used a lightened up cream cheese so that it wasn't too heavy.
The graham cracker crust is crispy, sweet and salty. Using butter and graham crackers, and some sugar...it may be basically heaven. All in all, this one is a winner and perfect for a summer BBQ dessert :)
How to Make It:
I started off by enlisting in my trusty kitchen helper, Emmie. She's especially helpful at baking desserts and taste-testing accordingly. With a very developed pallet at aged 3, she definitely provides good feedback. More sugar! Mix this? Let me taste. More sugar Momma! I want more frosting. You get the picture ;). Also, note the strawberry chin. She is the cutest.
I pulsated two sleeves of good old fashioned graham crackers in my food processor. Honey flavored or cinnamon would also work well for this dessert. Emmie threw those in there for me. Make sure to break them into halves first next time though.
After that was done, I added in my baking powder, brown sugar, pulsed it quickly to combine, then began pouring in my melted butter while the mixture continued processing. Once it starts to pull together a bit, it's done.
Spray a glass pan, I used an 8x8, and began pressing the mixture into the pan. You could also use a pie tin for this but since we were transporting this to someone's house, I didn't want it making a mess in the car. To make sure you really get the crust compacted, which is imperative for it to bake correctly, use the bottom end of a glass cup. You can see my cup rings on the crust from pushing it down hard. No one will see this because it will be covered with the cream cheese frosting anyway.
After that's completed, pop your crust into a preheated oven at 375° for about 22 minutes, until the crust begins to darken and set. Once done, pull from the oven and leave out to come to room temperature.
In the meantime, get your strawberries halved. Or quartered depending how big they are. Definitely make sure they aren't too big though so this can still be a hand-held dessert. If you don't care and are going for a more proper "pie," cut your strawberries however you like. The world is your oyster.
Next for the frosting. I used a lightened up block of cream cheese, but you could use full-fat if you desire. A bit of lemon zest (I did not use any lemon juice in this otherwise the frosting will be too thin), honey, vanilla extract and a small bit of sugar make this cream cheese frosting sticky enough to adhere the strawberries as well as hold up to the graham cracker crust. Once your frosting is done, put into the fridge until your crust is room temperature.
Once the crust has come to room temperature, you can begin putting the pie bars together. On top of the graham cracker crust goes the frosting.
On top of that, fresh strawberries. I topped mine with little bits of shaved chocolate (using a potato peeler and just shaved a bar of chocolate), but you could also do powdered sugar, fresh basil, whipped cream, whatever you would like! This dessert is so versatile!
After everything was assembled we put it back into the fridge for an hour to setup before slicing into. Then, you are ready to dig in! Enjoy :)
Comentários