Best Recipe For Strawberry Pie (Without Jello)

If you ask me this is THE BEST recipe for strawberry pie, my mom's old fashioned strawberry pie!;)

A while ago, my mom decided to reveal her 40-year [and hundreds time tested] recipe for her old-fashioned crostata with strawberries. She makes it with homemade strawberry jam, but I decided to give it a twist using homemade jam AND fresh strawberries AND cinnamon sugar on top. Spoiler: it was amazing.

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Why We Love This Strawberry Pie

We love this because it's full of flavor (you bite it, the strawberry will explode in your mouth 🤯), it’s the perfect Spring/Summer pie, it's made from scratch and you don't need to blind bake it. Let's say it's optional and I never do it:)

It's also perfect if you want to bring a dessert to a friend, and finally... it's made without jello!

Strawberry Pie Ingredients

My mom makes an extremely delicious classic strawberry crostata using only jam. To this pie (because it's taller than a crostata) instead I wanted to give that extra touch, so I thought 💭 Why not adding fresh strawberries?!

I think it's extra delicious and I cannot wait to know what YOU think about this version. In the meantime let's see the ingredients:

For the crust

You'll need: all purpose flour (I always use 00 flour), caster/icing sugar, unsalted butter, egg and egg yolk, salt, baking powder, lemon/orange zest and vanilla extract.

Can you omit baking powder? Yes, but read tips and tricks below. Can you skip lemon/orange zest? Yes (sometimes I do) but they give a nice aroma to the crust.

In case you're wondering if you can make a graham cracker crust here: the answer is NO, it would be a completely different dessert and I cannot guarantee the result.

For the strawberry pie filling

You'll need: strawberry jam (possibly homemade) enough to cover the bottom of the pie, then good quality fresh strawberries.

To finish: egg wash, brown sugar + cinnamon. Trust me here, it's essential, it gives a crunchy touch.

How To Make It Step-By-Step

I swear this is a FAIL PROOF pie recipe. Fail proof, fool prof, whatever... You'll succeed 100% (and you'll make my mom proud:))

The steps to the perfect pie crust (and crostata in this case) are only 4.

Prepare the crust

Put dry ingredients into a bowl, then add eggs and cubed cool butter. Work with your hands until you get a nice and smooth dough (be quick!). Let the dough chill. If you want to use a food processor (way easier): put all the ingredients into the food processor container, close and pulse until you obtain a smooth dough.

At this point, depending on how soft it is, you can refrigerate it. Mom often doesn't'. Divide it into two pieces, transfer one to the pan and use the remaining to make decorations.

Fill with jam and fruit

Fill with strawberry jam and fresh strawberries if you use a deeper pan. Then cover with remaining dough. Have fun with a pretty lattice.

Bake

Bake it for 20 minutes (at 180° C / 350° F) with fan-assisted oven or about 35 minutes with conventional oven. Always keep an eye, pay attention not to burn it.

A note on adding fresh strawberries: if you use a pan with latch and removable bottom you can use only jam. If you decide to use a deeper pan like mine (this) you can add 250 gr of fresh strawberries.

You can serve this fresh strawberry pie with vanilla ice cream on top, to have something EXTRA drooling eheh

Baker's Tips & Tricks

So, mom actually insisted on teaching me how to make strawberry pie, and she also handed down some secrets, tips & tricks, for example:

1. If you use your hands - not a food processor like I do - work the crust quickly or it will turn out too soft.
2. Don’t overmix.
3. Lemon zest, from organic lemons, is essential in the crust. When you buy them, do not wash them immediately! Refrigerate until you’re ready to use them, then clean them right before zesting. If you wash them and refrigerate they will "soak" the smells of your fridge (and you don't want this).
4. She adds a tiny bit of baking powder to give more flakiness to the crust.
5. NEVER EVER EVER FORGET THE SALT (mom gets mad lol)
6. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until it firmed up (not too much!). Put aside a piece of crust and transfer the rest to your tart pan and spread it evenly with your hands. Use the remaining to decorate it (lattice is always a win, it's super pretty!).
7. Do not use extra sweet strawberry jam: she makes her jam from scratch so she can measure out sugar. If you use a store-bought one though, choose the one with less sugar (30 g per 100 g of product is ok). Remember the crust is already sweetened.
8. To prevent a soggy bottom use a non-stick pan and don't grease it (for the photos on this page I've used a vintage pie pan with matte-finish aluminum, non-stick)
9. Don't use frozen strawberries, they will release too much liquid.
10. If you have it, use a fan-assisted oven (convection) so you will be able to bake the crust for less amount of minutes overall, and the jam won't darken.

Want to make my version of strawberry pie filling instead?

• Use fresh strawberries (slightly sour) to make it even yummier and to create balance: nothing better than taking a bite and feeling a piece of strawberry exploding in your mouth!
• Brush the crust with some egg wash.
• Top with cinnamon sugar (cinnamon & strawberries are perfect together!)

Can I make this in advance?

You can absolutely prepare the crust, also spread it into the pan and store into the fridge til you're ready to bake. OR. You can blind bake it a couple days before. Then top with jam and fresh strawberries, decorate with remaining crust and bake.

Why is my pie filling runny?

Strawberry pie filling shouldn't be that runny, but if it is, the issue is the jam (because it wasn't that thick to start with), so I would recommend to change brand.

If it's runny, wait until cooled down, it should get a bit firmer. Otherwise, do not waste it: it's still good to eat. Next time, try adding a bit of cornstarch.

How To Store It

My mom would store this crostata at room temperature IF it only had jam. Since we are using fresh fruit, store this into an airtight container into the fridge for up to 3 days.

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Do you have other questions?

It's not easy to answer all the questions you may have, so PLEASE leave a comment below and I'm glad to reply! Thank you.

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If you make this recipe, please be sure to give it a rating and leave a comment! It would make me so happy!  🙂

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