Hello all, hope you had a great Fourth of July! Today is Pie Day in the blogosphere, if you didn’t get the announcement. Everyone has been invited to bake pie – any pie, and write/photograph/tweet/blog about it. So if you see a great deal of pie on the internet today, I hope it entices you to go out and have a slice of something sweet.
I will quickly admit I am not a pie person: I mean, I love eating pie, but there are many other talented bakers out there who specialize in pie, whereas I merely dip an occasional toe in from across the pie-tart line. But there are really no better reasons than summer, and a blog event to get me to exercise my underused pie muscles.
And as soon as I decided to make a pie, inspiration shot out of the clear blue summer sky: strawberries, and the lemon verbena that’s growing on my balcony. Two of my very absolute favorite things about summer. I call it the I Heart Summer Pie.
The crust is a simple pâte brisée, filled with strawberries tossed in brown sugar and a scattering of lemon verbena leaves. I made a lattice top because I like seeing the fruit peek through, and I sprinkled liberally with turbinado sugar to make the top sweetly crunchy.
So pretty even under construction it was tempting to just eat the fresh berries. The trick is not to overfill the pie crust, as the cooking fruit will bubble up. Also, a lattice crust lays out more nicely over a flat top.
Using a pastry wheel to cut out the strips for the lattice. There’s something very satisfying about marking a flat, pristine piece of dough into neatly serrated sections.
The strawberries from the farmers’ market tasted like pure concentrated summer. The lemon verbena perfumed the pie nicely, although I would have liked the flavor to be stronger; next time I think I’ll make a lemon verbena syrup and cover the strawberries in it before baking. I also made mini pies because I think they look cuter that way with a single heart in the center. I have to say, for a spur-of-the-moment combination and some rusty pie crust technique, it wasn’t bad at all. But I think a great deal of that has to do with the the axiom that everything tastes better on a beautiful day, especially when it’s summer fruit. P.S. It tastes even better the next day, after the strawberry and lemon verbena have gotten a chance to mingle even more. A scoop of ice cream wouldn’t hurt either.
If you heart summer, don’t let it pass without having a slice of some really good pie.
Pâte Brisée
- 3 cups ( 15 oz) all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups (12 oz) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/2 cup (4 oz) water, very cold
Strawberry Filling
- 20 oz strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 16 lemon verbena leaves
For the pâte brisée:
- Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add about a third of the butter into the bowl. Keep the rest of the Add about a third of the butter to the bowl. Keep the rest of the butter in the refrigerator to keep it cold. Use a pastry blender or two knives to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add another third of the butter to the bowl in the same way, and then the rest of the butter. Do not overwork the mixture.
- Drizzle the ice water over the mixture and use a fork to stir the mixture until it just starts to clump together. Do not work it into one homogeneous ball of dough. The pieces of dough should just stick together when you press them together. Add a little more water if the dough is still too dry and crumbly.
- Form the dough into two balls. Flatten into disks, wrap in plastic, and chill for an hour to firm.
- Roll one disk of dough out into a 13" circle. Fit into a 9" pie pan and trim the edges so there is about a 1/2" overhang. Or, you can cut out circles and fit them into mini pie pans - you will get about (4) 5" mini pies if you are careful. Chill the pie crust while you make the filling.
For the filling:
- Combine the strawberries, sugars, flour, salt, and lemon verbena leaves together in a medium bowl.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Take out the pie crust and pour in the filling.
- Roll out the second disk of dough to a 13" circle. Using a knife or pastry cutter, cut (14) 1/2" strips of dough. Lay strips over the pie filling in a lattice pattern. Press ends of dough strips into the bottom crust. Brush the lattice lightly with water and sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top.
- Bake pie for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and fruit is bubbling (may take less time for mini pies). Let cool on wire rack before serving.
Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is a baker, writer, and photographer with a passion for pastry. She trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School and is the author of Field Guide to Cookies, Field Guide to Candy, and Lollipop Love. Anita lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter, and dog Max. 
What a gorgeous looking pie. I’m sure it tastes just as delicious. I’ve never used lemon verbena before and I wonder how it tastes. 🙂 Can’t wait to see your recipe and so I can go hunt down some lemon verbena leaves to make this pie.
I wish I could have taken part in this (if I didn’t work an 11 hour day maybe!), but this looks so gorgeous! I love the little strawberry heart – what a sweet touch 🙂
I’ve noticed a lot of pies today, but it’s a wonderful thing. Yours is stunning. I love strawberries and incorporating them into a pie is a wonderful idea and I love the touch of lemon verbena. Yum!
This looks delightful, I adore strawberries (i eat half a tub of them a day at the moment 🙂 ) and hence always have them around but havnt yet baked with them, this looks gorgeous though so am very tempted to try it out! As far as the lemon leaves go ive never used them before, could you sub lemon zest/juice or are they entirely different flavours?
Lovely recipe as always 🙂
What a stunning little treat. This pie sounds wonderful.
Absolutely perfect.
omg – what perfect pastry strips. you must have one steady hand. yummy looking pie!
Wow you are really talented, this pie looks AMMAAZING. I love baking too, and I am going to try this next time I make a pie. I love your blog, its so cute!
wouldn’t a more appropriate pie day be march 14? 🙂
My God, what a gorgeous pie!! I want one and more than that I want to be able to make one that beautiful! Well done!
An adorable tribute to pies and strawberries!
I truly love the wonderful recipe!! Yummy Thanks for sharing!
I’ve made it today! It was my first pie! It is sooooooo delicious! My husband loves it)) I’m going to try your other recipes. Thank you for sharing!
love the lattice wheel!