Strawberry Pie

Strawberries are in season!  Time to make dessert!  I wish I was the type of gal to eat strawberries for their natural wholesome properties.............but, no, I need to add sugar!

Here are the ingredients for this pie:

Pie crust:

2 cups crushed pecans
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/3 cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt

Pie Filling

1 quart strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 box strawberry Jello
1 tablespoon lemon juice

First, make sure your pecans are crushed.  Put them in your food processor if needed.  When they are crushed, put them in a bowl and add the rest of the crust ingredients.  Press the mixture into the bottom of a well greased pie plate.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Remove and let cool.

In a saucepan, crush one cup of strawberries.  I used a potato masher and it worked great.  To this, add the sugar, Jello and cornstarch.  Stir to incorporate.  Slowly add water and lemon juice.  Cook until mixture boils, then remove from heat.  Allow to cool.

Once your crust is cool, put the remaining sliced strawberries in the pie pan.

Slowly pour the Jello mixture over the strawberries.  Chill for 2-3 hours before serving.  Top with whipped cream.

Maria likes to help in the kitchen!  I love when she comes over!

Enjoy!

Strawberry Cake

My granddaughter Jossalyn turned 4 last week. She came by last weekend to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa. When she comes over I try to have some strawberries on hand. She is a
strawberry phene (is that even a word?)!

 Jossy, scarfing up strawberries at 1!

She also loves helping Grandma when she cooks. We decided to make a strawberry birthday cake together!

Cake Batter Ingredients:

2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 cup milk
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons vanilla

Strawberry Filling:

3 cups strawberries, diced
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water

Strawberry Frosting:

2 sticks butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1/2 cup heavy cream
 
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and lightly flour three cake pans.

Jossy loved getting her hands all buttery!

In your mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs, one at a time.  Continue mixing and add the salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Add the vanilla and strawberry jam.  Continue mixing while you alternate between the flour and milk.  Divide the cake batter between the three cake pans.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, prepare the strawberry filling.  Cut your strawberries.  Add the strawberries to a saucepan and turn on medium heat.  Stir in the sugar and cornstarch.  Slowly add the water and cook until the sauce thickens.  Turn the heat off.  The strawberry filling will continue to thicken as it cools.


While the cake and the filling cools, make the frosting.  Cream together the butter and powdered sugar.  Add the vanilla, jam and cream.

When the cake and filling is completely cooled, start assembling the cake.

Decorate with strawberries

Kylie loved the cake!

Happy birthday Jossy!  We love you!

Strawberry Jam

Costco had the biggest container of strawberries ever!  I love Costco - time for some strawberry jam.

To begin, I washed the strawberries and cut the top off.  I cut the strawberries into smaller chunks and put them in a sauce pan.

I ended up with about 6 cups of strawberries.  To this I added 3 cups of sugar.  If you read a jelly or jam recipe, it will usually call for more sugar.  I always find that I need to cut the sugar almost in half otherwise it is too sweet.

I added 10 tablespoons of pectin and 2 teaspoons of butter to counteract any foam that might form.

As that cooked, I took my potato masher and helped break the strawberries apart.  I like chunky jam, but I don't want HUGE hunks.

To help avoid a big mess, I use a canning funnel to get the jelly into hot, sterilized jars.  An easy way to sterilize your canning jars is to stick them in the dishwasher and run it.  Make sure your jars are hot when you put the jelly in.  Otherwise, the jars might break.

Leave about 1/4 inch head space from the top of the jar.  Wipe off the rim of the jar to make sure that the lid will seal.  Put the lids in boiling water and put them on top of the jars.

The jelly needs to be processed in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.  After that time, remove the jars and let them cool.  As they cool, the jars will seal.  You will know that they are sealing because you will hear a popping sound.

After the jars are cooled, press your finger on the lid.  If you can press the lid up and down, the lid didn't seal.  Refrigerate that jar and use it first.

Canning is easy and a lost art!  I taught myself how to do this and if I can, you can too!  Enjoy!