Fresh Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

Today we had the pleasure of having some long-time friends from Iowa over for dinner. We had an outdoor cookout, which we enjoyed outside on the patio in "cool" 90degree weather ("cool" by Dallas standards anyway; our friends from Iowa weren't quite convinced that was cool...especially since they had just come from 70 degree temperatures!). I plan on posting the dinner menu sometime soon. In the meantime, I thought I'd post the recipe and photos for one of tonight's desserts.

Fresh Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

Crust:
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1/3 cup shortening, chilled
3 T. unsalted butter, chilled
2-3 T. cold water

Sift flour and salt together in a large bowl. Using your fingers or a pastry blender, cut in the shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the water over the mixture, 1 T. at a time, until all the ingredients are moistened and the mixture holds together in a dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to a 1/8” thickness. Carefully fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Prick with a fork, and bake in a 425 degrees F oven for 20-25 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

Filling:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/8 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1/3 cup granulated sugar
½ cup sour cream

In quart-sized bowl, whip cream together with powdered sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Set aside. In another bowl, beat cream cheese and granulated together until fluffy. Fold in sour cream. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon mixture into cooled crust. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Topping:
3 cups fresh, whole strawberries, washed and hulled
1 cup granulated sugar
3 T. cornstarch
2 T. light corn syrup
1 cup water
Pinch of salt
2 T. strawberry gelatin (dry)

To make a strawberry glaze, cook the sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, water and salt until clear. Cool slightly and add the dry strawberry gelatin. Stir well. Let cool to room temperature. Add strawberries, and gently stir until all the strawberries are coated with the glaze. Arrange on top cooled pie filling. Let chill at least 1-2 more hours before serving.

Happy pie making!
~Becky