Fresh Strawberry Cream Pie

This fresh Strawberry Cream Pie is light, fluffy, and so delicious! With a premade pie crust and just five simple ingredients, this easy-to-make no-bake favorite is ready to chill in under 15 minutes. Perfect for picnics, potlucks, and backyard barbecues!

This delicious strawberry cream pie is light, airy, creamy, and smooth as silk. Full of fresh strawberry flavor, it is one of our favorite warm-weather treats!

Not only is this recipe for strawberry cream pie delicious, but it's easy to make, with a no-bake filling that takes just five simple ingredients. A true cream pie, it has no artificial flavorings or colors, no cream cheese, and no cornstarch.

In the course of developing this recipe, Mr B and I ended up making about ten strawberry cream pies. The last five (at least) weren't about fine-tuning the recipe; they were about all that delicious strawberry cream! Oh, my gosh! We could not get enough of it! (Just so you know, we did not eat ten pies by ourselves. We shared with family and gave some away to friends for quality assurance.)

Jump to:

• Berry Cream Pie Ingredients
• How to Make this Strawberry Pie Recipe
• How to Slice a Cream Pie
• Substitutions
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top Tip
• FAQ
• Stages of Whipping Cream
• More Strawberry Recipes
• Fresh Strawberry Cream Pie

Berry Cream Pie Ingredients

• Fresh strawberries: Use fresh strawberries if at all possible. You can also make this pie with frozen strawberries.
• Heavy cream: If you are looking for a lite strawberry pie recipe, this ain't it.
  • This recipe employs all-natural ingredients, and heavy whipping cream is at the heart of it. You can use regular whipping cream, but the pie won't turn out quite as firm.
• Gelatin: Use unflavored gelatin. Gelatin is a pure, natural protein derived from collagen. No artificial flavors or colors.
• Sugar: Use white granulated sugar.
• Vanilla: Use pure vanilla extract. (You can leave this out if you need to.)
• Pie Crust: Use your favorite sweet pie crust. You can make strawberry cream pie with any baked pastry crust (packaged or homemade), or with a graham cracker, or even a chocolate pie crust.

How to Make this Strawberry Pie Recipe

This recipe will make enough strawberry cream to fill one 9½-inch deep dish pie shell or two standard 8-inch pie shells.

Pie Crust

If you need to bake your pie crust, do that first and allow it to cool completely before making the filling.

For reference, we baked the empty pie shell below using our Basic Sweet Pie Crust recipe at 400°F (232°C) for 28 minutes (fully baked). We weighted it (with navy beans on parchment) for the first 17 minutes, and then remove the weights and baked it empty for the remaining time.

For best results, chill the mixing bowl, cream, and strawberries before starting the filling.

Berry Purée

Puree enough cold strawberries in a blender to make 1½ cups. Set aside.

In a small sauce pan, sprinkle 3 teaspoons of gelatin over 5 tablespoons of cold water and let stand for 1 minute.

Gently heat over medium-low, whisking until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Pour gelatin into a batter bowl or mixing bowl with a spout.

Add the berry puree to the gelatin, and whisk together. Set aside.

Berry Whipped Cream Filling

Be sure to start with COLD whipping cream.

In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the cold whipping cream on medium until it thickens to the no peaks stage, when the cream changes from runny with big bubbles to thicker and smoother, and has the look and feel of melting ice cream.

Reduce the mixer speed to Low and slowly add ⅓ cup of sugar and the vanilla. You won't add all the sugar yet because strawberries vary wildly in natural sugar content, and each pie will need a little more or less sugar.

Once all the sugar has dissolved in the cream, increase the mixer speed to medium.

When the cream begins to make very soft peaks, start pouring the strawberry puree mixture into the cream in a slow stream.

Do not pour too fast, or the strawberries may overwhelm the whipping cream.

Once all the strawberries are mixed in, stop the mixer for a moment and taste the strawberry cream. If your strawberries are summer sweet, you may not need anymore sugar. If they are very tart, you may need more. Adjust according to your own tastes.

Once you are satisfied with the level of sweetness, whisk the mixture on medium-high until it barely reaches the firm peaks stage. (Do not overwhip!)

HINT: The cream mixture will easily stay on an upturned spoon when it is ready.

Fill & Chill

Fill the prepared pie shell with the strawberry cream mixture.

This is totally optional, but I like to fill the pie shell about halfway with the filling, and then add a handful of whole strawberries to the pie, and cover them up with the remaining strawberry cream. This makes for a little more texture and concentrated strawberry flavor inside the pie.

Using whole strawberries instead of sliced ones prevents the fruit from leaking into the whipped cream and watering it down. It also gives the slices a pretty profile.

Refrigerate the prepared pie for a minimum of 4 hours, until firm. (Overnight is even better.) Top with additional strawberries and whipped cream as desired.

If your cream wasn't cold enough, or you make this pie on a particularly warm day, the whipping cream may not get as lofty as it could. Never fear. Just pour it into the pie and chill. Literally.

How to Slice a Cream Pie

To get a cleanly cut piece of cream pie, first refrigerate the pie overnight so that it is well set and very firm. Use a sharp, hot knife with a smooth blade*. Dip the knife in hot water for 15 seconds, wipe the knife off with a paper towel, and cut the pie. Repeat after each cut. If necessary, repeat with a small paring knife to ensure the crust on the bottom is fully cut through.

*A serrated blade works better for pie with more dense, chunky fillings, but a smooth blade will produce a satin-like cut on a cream pie.

Substitutions

You can substitute on any cane berry (i.e., blackberries, Marion berries, boysenberries, raspberries, etc.) for the strawberries. For example:

• Raspberry Cream Pie: Substitute raspberries for the strawberries.
• Blackberry Cream Pie: Substitute blackberries for the strawberries.
• Marion Berry Cream Pie: Substitute Marion berries for the strawberries.

Equipment

After decades of pie-making, my first choice for a pie plate is either a Pyrex basic deep dish or Pyrex fluted deep-dish pie plate.

The transparent Pyrex allows you to visually check the crust for doneness, and its even heat conduction yields a crisp, uniform crust. The durable Pyrex material can be cut without scratching the dish, and slices release neatly from the pan.

Storage

Loosely cover pie with plastic wrap and refrigerate. When properly stored, strawberry cream pie will stay good for 4 to 5 days.

Top Tip

If you don't have enough fresh berries, you can use frozen berries to make the berry cream. If you have any fresh berries, use them to garnish the top.

To use frozen berries to make the filling, first thaw the berries to room temperature. Drain off half of the liquid, and then puree them as you would the fresh berries, and proceed from there.

FAQ

Stages of Whipping Cream

✿ No Peaks: The cream thickens, and changes from runny with big bubbles to smoother with small bubbles, and has the look and feel of melting ice cream.

✿ Soft Peaks: When the beaters are lifted, the cream will barely its shape, and peaks will fall over immediately.

✿ Medium Peaks: When lifted, the cream will form stiff peaks that curl on the end.

✿ Firm (or Stiff) Peaks: When lifted, the cream will form stiff peaks that stand straight up and do not curl.

✿ Over-Beaten: The cream will become granular in appearance. (Keep beating and you'll have butter.)

More Strawberry Recipes

Fresh strawberries are one of our favorite fruits! Some of our favorite strawberry recipes include fresh strawberry ice cream, strawberry layer cake, and fresh strawberry cream crepes.

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