Strawberry Mile High Pie: A Piece of Cake #67
Strawberry Mile High Pie: A Piece of Cake #67
Come for the pie, stay for the lesson in buying strawberries.
Memorial Day is nigh, the symbolic start of the summer season. But for my purposes, it’s the start of strawberry season. I picked up my first quart of South Jersey strawberries at the Union Square Greenmarket yesterday. They did cost me a kidney (if a kidney cost $9), but it was a price I was happy to pay.
When I’m buying local strawberries, I like to consider the weather the week prior. While this might seem excessive to the average produce consumer, I know there is nothing average about you, a subscriber to A Piece of Cake. The weather is crucial to delicate handpicked local berries. Too much rain the week prior and the berries will swell with water, diluting their sugar concentration and flavor. Too little, and they simply aren’t luscious enough. This is especially important to me when I’m buying a flat or two of strawberries for jam, which I do every June. The perfect strawberry week begins with a nice rainfall followed by 3-4 days of hot sunny weather. But enough about the Farmers’ Almanac—let’s talk about pie.
This pie was inspired by the old diner classics, as so many of my desserts are. There’s nothing like walking into a diner and being greeted by a rotating display of daily dessert offerings. And few of those offerings are as impressive, or kitschy, as the mile high pie. Whether it’s lemon meringue, chocolate silk, or apple, mile high pie is decidedly fun food. And there’s nothing I love more than taking fun food seriously. My mile high strawberry pie is a direct cousin of the chocolate silk variety, but I’ve replaced the chocolate filling with the star of the season.
The key concepts with this pie are temperature and time. Firstly, each component has to be fully cooled prior to combining. This is therefore not a pie to make when you’re in a rush. But, time is also of the essence after you’ve completed the pie; this pie has a short shelf life. Too short in the fridge and the filling won’t set. Too long in the fridge and the crust will being to soften. I would chill it overnight if you’re taking it to a lunchtime picnic the next day, but if you’re serving this pie at dinner, I might assemble it the day of the dinner. Once the crust has softened, it’s harder to get a clean slice of the pie. It’s not the worst thing if the crust gets soft; but why not try for the best thing?
