Strawberry Pie with Devonshire Cream
If you were around during my early pivot into recipe development, you might remember this Strawberry Pie… the pie that kept me up at night because she wouldn’t set up. She was such a delicious, soupy mess but I wanted her to work so badly. We’re all in luck, she’s been revived from the scrap pile and given a new, set-up life with help from a chef pal who reminded me that fresh fruit in contact with hot sugars will release its water. Embarrassing for me, but hey, we’ve moved on and it’s pie time we get this thing made.
This Strawberry Pie with Devonshire Cream is a true celebration of the summer sweetness. While I love baked strawberries in things like scones, muffins and Kouign Amanns, I don’t love how strawberries can break down under heat so this puppy is filled with fresh strawberries that are juicy and vibrant nestled in a buttery, flaky crust. The result? A cool, refreshing dessert that’s bursting with the natural sweetness of ripe strawberries.
Some berry helpful tips
Store bought crust is *fine* here. Pastry can be tricky so please feel free to just blind bake a store bought crust and save yourself a lot of time and energy! But don’t you dare buy a can of whipped cream to cut extra corners here ;)
Since we’re using fresh strawberries here (and we all know berries have a delicately short life span), this baby is best enjoyed the day it’s made! It will technically keep for a couple days in the fridge but the berries will begin to wilt and the crust will lose its flakiness a bit.
Get yourself a dry, acidic sparkling wine for this dessert—Brut Rosé or Champagne would be such a lovely pairing. You’ll want something to sip on anyways since this pie takes literal hours (please try it anyways lol)
Strawberry Pie with Devonshire Cream
This Strawberry Pie with Devonshire Cream is filled with fresh strawberries that are juicy and vibrant nestled in a buttery, flaky crust. The result? A cool, refreshing dessert that’s bursting with the natural sweetness of ripe strawberries.
Ingredients
- 14 tablespoons cold butter
- 2⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1½ teaspoons sugar
- Zest of one lemon
- ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoons water, iced
- 3 pints strawberries
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1 lemon, zested and halved
- 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- kosher salt
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup cold heavy cream
- 1 tbsp cold cream cheese
- 5 tbsp powdered sugar
Instructions
- Using a cheese grater, shred 14 tablespoons of cold butter and place in the fridge to keep it cold until we’re ready to use.
- Over a large mixing bowl, sift 2⅓ cups of all-purpose flour through a fine mesh sieve. Sprinkle in the cold shredded butter and coat those shreds in flour to help separate them, but do your best to keep the butter as cold as possible.
- To the flour and butter mixture, add 1½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt, 1½ teaspoons sugar, and the zest of one lemon. Stir to incorporate then create a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
- Pour in ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon of iced water but be mindful to not add in any of the ice. Gently incorporate ingredients together until a dough ball forms and all of the flour is incorporated. Be careful not to overmix it, just get that flour incorporated.
- Tightly cover the dough ball and place in the fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Remove the stems from your strawberries. Leave half of the strawberries whole and cut the rest in half. Set these aside.
- Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface or counter and roll out the dough ball using a rolling pin. You’re aiming for a ⅛” thickness and a circle that’s about 2 inches larger than the pie dish you’re using so it can spill over the edge.
- Transfer the pie crust to your pie dish, press it into the sides and crimp your edge—I like the 3 finger fluted technique but a fork crimp or a rustic spill over edge would work too. Prick the crust all over with a fork and bake until golden brown and flaky, about 20-25 minutes. (If you’re not going to be baking right away, transfer the crust in the dish to the freezer until you’re ready to bake)
- While the crust bakes, add the whole strawberries to a medium sauce pot with ¾ cup sugar, ¼ cup of water, the zest of 1 lemon, the juice of ½ lemon, 1 teaspoon vanilla paste, 1 teaspoon thyme, and a pinch of kosher salt. Stir this mixture and turn on the heat to medium high. As the mixture warms up, mash the strawberries with a whisk until a smooth sauce forms.
- Add the remaining ¼ cup of water to a small bowl with ⅓ cup of cornstarch. Whisk this until smooth then slowly whisk the cornstarch slurry into the strawberry sauce. Boil this mixture until thickened and no longer cloudy, about 45 seconds. Remove from the heat and allow this to completely cool down to room temperature.
- Remove the pie crust from the oven and allow it to cool completely as well. Go live your life for an hour or so—it’s a pie recipe after all.
- Once the strawberry sauce has fully cooled, fold in the fresh strawberries until combined then carefully pack this mixture into the cooled pie crust, tapping gently on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Place the pie in the fridge to cool completely and set up for about another hour.
- It’s finally time, babes. When that pie has fully cooled and it’s time to make the cream. In a mixing bowl, add ½ cup cold heavy cream, 1 tbsp cold cream cheese, and 5 tbsp powdered sugar. Beat with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form, about 3-5 minutes.
- Slice up the pie and top with generous dollops of the devonshire cream and garnish with a few extra thyme leaves.
