Fresh and Sweet

Summer is the perfect time to bake with fresh fruit. I made a delicious fresh strawberry pie for the 4th of July along with some cookies, of course. Now, if only I could have one of you send me some of the fresh berries from Mary's Berries I think that's the only way this pie could be any better!
This recipe is a three part-er, the crust, the 'filling', and the glaze.

Doesn't that look pretty-ful?

One Crust Pie Pastry
2/3 C shortening
1/4 C butter (cold, cut into pats)
1/2 t salt
2 1/2 C Flour
1/4-1/3 C ice cold water

In a mixer, sift in the flour, add the salt, add the shortening and turn on to low. Add the butter one cold pat at a time (make sure it's cold! Have I said that enough?!) Once the dough looks like a crumbly mess add the water 1 Tablespoon at a time. You'll have enough water when you can reach in and squeeze the dough and it holds together but isn't sticky. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Before rolling out, let it come to room temp for about 15 minutes. I like to roll mine out on a silpat mat, but any floured surface will do. When you roll it out, aim for about 1/4 inch thick. To get it into the pan easier, roll the dough onto your rolling pin, and unroll into your floured pie pan. Fix the edges how you like them, I like to roll the tops in and seal with a fork. Now, put it back in the fridge for 30 minutes. Super important here before you blind bake a pie crust (that's baking without filling). Preheat the oven to 350, prick the bottom of the dough with a fork to let out the steam, cover the edges with foil and bake for 8 minutes. Take the foil off and bake for another 12. Let the crust cool completely.

Strawberry Pie 'Filling'
8 C washed, hulled, and sliced in half berries
1/2 C Nutella or sweetened cream cheese

On the cooled pie crust, spread the Nutella or cream cheese over the bottom. Arrange the strawberries in a pretty circle. Refrigerate. Done.

Strawberry Pie Glaze
1 1/2 C strawberries, washed and hulled (these can be the ugly ones that weren't good enough to go in the pie)
1/2 C water
1/2 C sugar
2 T cornstarch

In a blender combine the berries and water. On the stove stir together the sugar and cornstarch, pour in the water/berries mix. Heat on medium until bubbly (not boiling) and thick. Remove from heat for 10 minutes and do NOT stir while it's cooling. Feel free to stir while it's cooking though.
Just before serving pour or brush the glaze over the pie. Do not do this more than 3 hours before serving or you'll have a mushy mess. And if you have left over glaze it's basically strawberry jelly. YUM! Super delicious on toast.

Go Pack Go!

I know, I know, the Packers weren't in the Super Bowl this year. That's why the treats I made for Super Bowl Sunday were distinctly generic. But, with a few easy tweaks these goodies could easily showcase your love for your favorite team for the big game!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Footballs

You will need:
1 bag chocolate candy wafer melts
1 bag white chocolate candy wafer melts
A bunch of strawberries (I used one small box)

First melt the chocolate wafers over a double boiler or in the microwave. Using regular chocolate chips here isn't preferred, they don't set up as quickly or as nicely as the candy melts. I tend to prefer the double boiler melting method, mostly because I don't have to take it out of the microwave and stir every thirty seconds. While the chocolate is melting give the strawberries a quick rinse and look over and gently pat them dry.
Make sure you have a deep container for the chocolate. This makes dipping the strawberries much easier. Once you have smooth, melted chocolate, go ahead and start dipping. While you're dipping, you can start melting the white chocolate candy wafers. In order to get a look that was nice and even on all sides I held the strawberries over the chocolate until the candy had hardened (only about 30 seconds). Once you have all of your strawberries coated in chocolate, go ahead and put the chocolate in a sealed container in the pantry, you're all done with it.
Once you're done with the chocolate, and your white chocolate is melted, spoon about 1 cup (or about 3/4 of a disposable pastry bag) of the melted white chocolate into a pastry bag. I chose to use a disposable pastry bag and just snipped the end off, no special tips needed! You can even use a re-sealable plastic baggie for this part if you don't have pastry bags. The white decorations were a little more tricky for me and definitely took a few tries to get it right. I found that if you hold the strawberry by the green leafy end and have the small pointed end pointed up towards you, it's much easier to simply move the bag around the tip instead of moving the berry. Again, hold the berry until the decorations have hardened, about 30 seconds. I went ahead and did all of the pointed end circles, then all of the seams, then all of the large end circle, but it's up to you if you want to decorate the whole berry at once.

Storage Tips:
Do not store these in the fridge!!! They will get water droplets on the outside of the chocolate, and will make the berries go mushy faster inside the chocolate. That being said, these are best to be prepared no more than 1-2 days in advance and kept on the counter...if you can keep from eating them for that long before the big game!