Strawberry Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

Strawberry Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

It’s officially summer.  The calendar says so, and when I look out my window, I can say that our weather is even cooperating — if not with warmer temperatures, then surely beautiful sun and light that makes me want to grab a chair and book, maybe a glass of something tinkling when it’s picked up to sip.

I also think of brightly colored veggies in all kinds of combinations brushed with oil, tossed with garlic and salt and grilled.  Fruit as well.  Lots of fruit.  Sometimes I’m carried away and bring home too much — well, too much as far as eating it plain and simple goes.  One can have too many smoothies as well.

When faced with this particular predicament, it’s time to make pie.  Pie that isn’t on the diet I say I’m not on.  The non-diet I’ve been on since January and have been very good about until the lead-up to summer and all our goings on have inserted themselves into my carefully crafted snacks and meals.

I had pie for breakfast this morning.  We all did.  And I laughed as the hubster carried his piece out the door along with the oatmeal he routinely eats in the car on the way to work each morning.  It’s a wonder he makes it to work without being pasted with food each day.

I spent the afternoon yesterday making this pie, enjoying every moment of it.  It’s relaxing, and as much as I know the of the country is sweltering in temperatures approaching 100 degrees, as usual, we’re barely hitting 70.   Outside of having to prebake the pie crust, this pie requires very little heat — instead refrigeration once it’s cooled then put together.

Summer has to have a pie — and this one is perfect to celebrate today.

It’s June 29th, and it’s Pie Day!

Strawberry Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

Pie Crust Ingredients

(Make a double batch to add stars)*

1-1/3 c. all-purpose flour

8 T unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes

1 lg. egg

pinch of salt

1-2 T water, ice cold

Fruit Filling Ingredients

3/4 c. sugar

2 T cornstarch

pinch of salt

1-1/2 c. fresh blueberries, divided

1-1/2 c. fresh strawberries, chopped and divided

2 T unsalted butter

 2 T orange juice, freshly squeezed

Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 T sugar

1/4 c. sour cream

zest of 1/2 an orange

Pie Crust Directions:

  1. Make the pie dough first either using a food processor which is very quick.
  2. Put all ingredients into the bowl of the processor and run in short pulses until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
  3. Continue to pulse just until the dough begins to form a clump then pour out onto a lightly floured surface.
  4. Form into a flattened circle, wrap well and place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
  5. Afterwards, roll the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to a size a couple of inches wider than your pie pan — so about 11″ in diameter.
  6. Gently fold the dough in half to lift into the pie pan and then unfold and check the overhang for evenness.
  7. Fold the dough overhanging the edge of the pie pan under itself and just barely extending over the edge.
  8. Crimp the edges and “dock” the dough (poke it with a fork all over)
  9. Place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to make sure all that nice butter stays hard.
  10. To bake the pie shell, place in a preheated 425 degree F oven on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
  11. Remove from the oven and cool completely before filling. (See filling directions below)

*If you want to put stars on the top of the pie, then double the recipe, split the dough and use one of the portions to make the stars.  You will have more dough than you need for this.  To make the stars,roll out the dough and cut as many stars as you’d like, brush each of them with half-n-half and sprinkle with sugar.  Place on a baking sheet in the freezer to chill along with the pie crust then bake at the same time until golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven to a baking rack to cool completely before placing on the pie.

Fruit Filling Directions

  1. In a medium-sized sauce pan, place 3/4 c. of the blueberries, 3/4 c. of the strawberries, the sugar, salt, and orange juice.
  2. Over medium heat, stir until well mixed and allow to cook just until it begins to boil.
  3. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture becomes thick.
  4. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter.
  5. Pour into a bowl and allow to come to room temperature.  To quicken this process, place in a bowl of ice water and stir frequently until cooled.
  6. Once cool, gently stir in the remaining 3/4 c. blueberries and 3/4 c. strawberries.

Cream Cheese Filling Directions

  1. Beat the cream cheese in a small bowl with a wooden spoon until smooth.
  2. Stir in the sour cream, sugar, and orange peel and mix until well blended.

Putting the Pie Together

  1. Evenly spread the cream cheese filling on the bottom of the cool pie crust.
  2. Spoon the berry filling over it using a slotted spoon, then pouring as much of the juice over the fruit as needed.
  3. Place the baked stars over the fruit filling and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
  4. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Recipe Notes:

  • Pie Party 2012 was organized on Facebook by Garrett of Vanilla Garlic, Justin of Justcook NYC, Shauna of Gluten Free Girl, and Ashley of Not Without Salt.  And yes.  As soon as I saw the event, I had to join.  I’ve never been to a pie swap so maybe this is the closest I’ll ever get and I’m satisfied with that looking at everyone’s fabulous pies!
  • This is a very sturdy pie crust recipe.  It contains and egg which I find unusual, but considering the liquid in this pie know that it will help bind the crust ingredients, making it more stable.  I made two batches of dough– one in the processor for the pie shell, and the other by hand for the stars just to check.  Although the dough made by hand is more crude in texture, it worked out just fine!  I wrapped the leftovers well and put them in the freezer for another use.
  • I had some slippage on my docked crust so removed it about 10 minutes into the baking to place foil and pie weights (and beans which is what my weights are made of!) into it and completed baking like that, allowing for it to be uncovered the final five minutes.  No fear!  It doesn’t need to look perfect.
  • On the berries:  I know strawberries put off quite a bit of juice, so that’s why I decided to use a slotted spoon to load the pie with fruit first, then pour over the liquid.
  • Refrigeration is a must, and we didn’t want to eat this pie until the next day so didn’t try to cut into it before then.  It does need to stay refrigerated — it’s a juicy pie and the juice is great!
  • When cutting into the pie, I was able to lift an entire piece up and out and it held together perfectly.  Gordon Ramsay would be proud.  Sorry — we’ve been watching Master Chef contestants’ pie slices hoisted into the air to check stability.  I’m not a perfect slice of pie type gal, but thought I’d try anyway and this pie passed the muster.
  • Scoop up the juice and pour it over the top of your slice if you like — we did.  Delicious pie — not overly sweet.  Nice.
  • On the subject of adapting recipes:  I made an apple pie years ago that had a creamy base and loved it, so when I heard about the Pie Party decided to use some of my berries to make a similar pie.  Originally, I wanted to make a streusel topping, but decided to go patriotic instead with the stars.  Imagine my surprise when I googled “berry cream cheese pie” and found a zillion recipes out there — all seemingly fashioned after this one by Marjorie of Blue Ribbon Baking who showcased an award-winning blueberry pie on The Tonight Show.  Hence, the word adapted.

More Pie Day Pies

Brooklyn Galley — Mini Strawberry Rum Pies

Nothing in the House — Lime and Raspberry Italian Meringue Pie

A Baking Life (Gluten-Free) — Rustic Berry Frangipane Crostata

Dessert First — Cherry and Coconut Cream Tart

Some the Wiser — Strawberry Lemonade Ice Cream Pie

Eat the Love — Nectarine Blackberry Open Face Pie

Domenica Cooks — Homemade Strawberry Apricot Pie

The Harvard Common Press — Peach Burbon Pies (in jars!)

Healthy Green Kitchen — Mini Cheese Pies with Roasted Plum Jam (gluten-free)

Kitchen Conundrum — Fresh Tomato Tart for Summer Entertaining

The Runaway Spoon — Blueberry Country Tart with Buttermilk Whipped Cream

Flamingo Musings — Blueberry Jam Pie

Sweet Remedy — Lemon Meringue Pie

The Tomato Tart — Buttermilk Pie with Burbon Brown Butter Peaches

Andrea Myers — Peach Blueberry Pie with Oatmeal Crumb Topping and Crust

and there are SO many more…