Hello and happy πday! or piiiiiiiiie day as my husband likes to call it. Whether you want to celebrate 3.14 repeating or you just like pie, I’ve got the recipe for you! This pie starts with an all butter crust and is filled with a delicious sugary strawberry ginger filling.

This recipe comes from a cookbook that is well loved in our house as it has many creative and inventive ways of looking at pie. It’s called The Four and Twenty Blackbirds pie book and if you are interested in taking a look you can do so here.

Anywho! So on to the Pie!

For the Crust: (Makes 2 pie crusts)

•  2 1/2 Cups All purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• 1/2 Lb (2 Sticks) Unsalted butter — get the good kind
• 1 Cup Cold Water
• 1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Cup Ice

For the Filling:

• 1/4 Cup; plus 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Pounds Fresh Strawberries, rinsed & Quartered
• 1 Small Baking Apple (Golden Delicious or Honey Crisp works well)
• 2 Tablespoons Lime Juice (you can also use Lemon)
• Dash of Angostura Bitters
• 1/2 Cup packed Light Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 3-4 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Egg Wash (1 egg +1 Tablespoon of water)
• Demerara or Sanding Sugar

So, being by making the crust. Combine your dry ingredients in a bowl and the water, ice, and apple cider vinegar in a separate bowl or measuring cup.

Cube the butter and keep in the fridge until you are ready to use it. Cold butter = awesome pie dough.

Once you have your wet and dry ingredients ready, add the butter to the dry ingredients and using your finger tips, gently mix the butter and flour mixture together. You kind of want to pinch the cubes of butter between your fingers to break it up.

Essentially, you are coating the butter in the flour so that when the pie bakes, the water in the butter will evaporate and make your dough both tender and flaky.

Mix with your fingers until the butter resembles pea like chunks. Next, add the wet ingredients a tablespoon at a time to the butter/flour mixture and mix using your hands until the dough just comes together.

The amount of liquid you use will depend on alot of environmental factors…as in the time of the year that you make this pie, where you live (i.e. how humid or dry is it), etc.

Now that your dough is formed, divide it in half and wrap in food-safe plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

While the dough is chilling, you can start on the filling. Begin by washing & quartering your strawberries. Once quartered, place in a colander and toss with 3 tablespoons of sugar. Put aside and allow to drain for 30 minutes.

Next, peel and shred the apple (on either a large box grater, or if you don’t have one like me, you just cut it up finely). Add the drained strawberries to a bowl and follow with the apple. Add the lime juice and toss to coat.

Next, in a separate bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, brown sugar, ginger, allspice, salt and cornstarch. Set aside.

Now it’s time to roll out the dough. Take one disk from the refrigerator and place on a floured surface. Roll out to about 1/8 inch thick and then roll the dough back on to your rolling pin, and transfer to a pie dish. Place back in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Now ,combine the sugar mixture with the strawberries and toss to combine. Pour the filling into the prepared pie dish and place back in the refrigerator while you prepare the top.

Take the remaining dish of dough out of the fridge and roll out, same as before. I decided to make a lattice top, or you can just roll it out into a circle and pop it on top of the pie. Completely up to you.

In order to get the edge look on the pie, I simply trimmed of the excess dough and rolled the edge into itself. Trust me, it’s easier than it looks!

Brush the crust with egg wash and sprinkle with desired amount of sugar.

So, now, place your finished pie in the fridge while you preheat your oven to 425F. Place a lined baking sheet on the bottom rack, on the bottom rung of your oven. When your oven has come to temp, place the pie in the center of the baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is set and the pie is just starting to brown.

At this point, lower your oven temp to 375F and move the pie to the center of the oven. Continue to cook for 35-40 minutes or until the crust is browned and the center is bubbly.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before storing or digging in! This will allow time for the filling to “set” so it doesn’t run everywhere on your plate. Worth it, trust me.

And now enjoy! This is a great pie to celebrate pi…or just the coming of spring — its around here somewhere I just know it!

Enjoy!

P.S. Don’t throw out and access dough! You can always use it to make these delicious pie crust cookies!