Day 151 – 4th of July Vanilla Berry Pie

I had a picture in my mind of the pie I wanted to create for the 4th of July, but it didn’t turn out like I’d planned. It’s still edible and my daughter said it was good, but I haven’t tried it yet because it’s 10:30, I’m exhausted and as soon as I finish this I’m going to bed. I’ll write my review and give the rating tomorrow, so be sure to come by again.

For today’s pie, I used the Crisco crust recipe and my Fannie Farmer Cookbook Thirteenth Edition, p. 656; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.

4th of July Vanilla Berry Pie

Strawberry Purée
16 ounces strawberries plus more for decorating
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon sugar
In a blender, combine, 16 ounces of strawberries, water, and sugar. Purée until well combined or run on high speed until strawberries are smooth and without lumps. Using either 2 layers of cheesecloth or a fine sieve, strain sauce into a bowl removing any pulp, seeds, or skin. Use a spoon to push it through the sieve or cloth. Set aside in refrigerator.

Yes, that is Margarita Salt. It wasn’t added to the recipe, but was used in the relaxation of the chef.

Blueberry Purée
Before I even tell you what I did for the blueberries, I’m going to suggest you don’t use it. This purée became very gelatinous and when I attempted to put it on top of the pie, and it clumped. Wasn’t good.
16 ounces blueberries plus more for decorating
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon sugar
In a blender, combine, 16 ounces of blueberries, water, and sugar. Purée until well combined or run on high speed until blueberries are smooth and without lumps. Using either 2 layers of cheesecloth or a fine sieve, strain sauce into a bowl removing any pulp, seeds, or skin. Use a spoon to push it through the cloth or sieve. Set aside in refrigerator.

Cream Pie
Pie crust
3/4 cup sugar
½ cup flour
¼ teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used Wilton’s Clear Vanilla Extract because I wanted the cream to be as white as possible.)

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
Line a pie pan with the pastry dough, prick the dough all over, and bake for 12 minutes until lightly browned; set aside.
Combine the sugar, flour, and salt in a saucepan. Stir in the milk and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thick.
Add the egg yolks and continue to cook over low heat and stirring, for about 3 more minutes.
Remove from heat and blend in the butter and vanilla.

Let the custard cool for about 15 minutes, then pour it into the pie shell, smoothing the surface.
Using the strawberry purée, form a circle around the pie close to the crust.

Moving into the center, leave about a half inch space and form a blue circle around the pie.

Continue to repeat with the strawberry and again with the blueberry until you reach the center of the pie.
With a toothpick, draw lines across the pie, so that the sauces blend into the pie and one another.
Decorate the center and outer edges with the remaining whole strawberries and blueberries.

I’m sure this is difficult to imagine without a picture.
I had the idea when I saw the July issue of Martha Stewart’s magazine. She (or more than likely, her test kitchen chefs) had made some Fireworks cookies. They were gorgeous, of course.
Lori, from Recipe Girl made them the other day and they turned out beautifully, but she said they were very time consuming.
I had plenty of strawberry sauce left over, but I made waffles tonight for dinner and made an extra batch, so that sauce will be good on them in the morning. It’ll also be good over ice cream, so I’m glad there’s extra!
The blueberry stuff however was poured in globs down the sink. Not worth saving, and it was becoming kind of brownish. Now I can see why color preservatives are added to foods. It was looking pretty gross.
And an important note:  I made the cream, poured it into the crust and placed it into the fridge while I made the purées.
Bad idea.
The cream solidified as it was supposed to quite nicely, but after I made the circle on the pie with the sauces, they were not spreading easily and I was scraping little clumps of cream across the top.
Not pretty and I was becoming pretty aggravated.
But the good thing was I covered it some with the berries.

I rate everything I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best. This Vanilla Cream Pie with Berries earned 3 rolling pins.
The cream and fresh berries was a nice combination. Also, the small amount of sauces that were added to the pie also added a nice amount of flavor.
My kitchen looks like a cyclone hit it, so I’m hoping the kitchen fairy or the baking elves come tonight while I slumber to assist me in cleaning. (No fairies or elves came to clean last night, they must have been at someone else’s house that needed it more. I understand.)
Happy Baking!