This Strawberry Balsamic Pie is one of my all-time FAVORITE pies that is bursting with peak season berries and laced with sweet balsamic vinegar. It's a double-crust pie made with an all-butter, buttermilk pie dough that is flaky and tender!
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About the recipe
I've got a summer pie, my friends, that I can't stop gushing about - this fresh strawberry balsamic pie with a buttermilk pie crust!
You all know by know how IN LOVE I am with my Pies and Tarts Cookbook from the Culinary Institute of America. This is the 3rd recipe I have made and adapted from the book to share here on Sweet Cayenne, and each recipe I try becomes a new favorite!
When Ryan and I took our first bite of this Fresh Strawberry Balsamic Pie, we were literally speechless over how good it was. Neither of us had tasted a baked strawberry pie before - my previous experience with strawberry pies involved an unbaked fresh strawberry filling held together by some sort of gelatin situation.
But a BAKED strawberry filling laced with syrupy aged balsamic vinegar is the ticket to an other-worldly pie eating experience. Trust me when I say that this will be one your FAVORITE summer pies!
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Ingredients
Pie crust:
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Salt
- Extra-cold salted butter - essential for a flavorful and flaky crust
- Ice-cold buttermilk - lends flavor and tenderness
- Egg - for the topping
- Coarse sugar - for the topping
Pie filling:
- Fresh strawberries - the sweeter and riper they are, the better your pie will taste!
- Aged balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction
- Sugar
- Cornstarch - this will help thicken the juices
Instructions
It really isn't that difficult to make a strawberry pie from scratch! You can certainly make things easier with a store-bought pie crust. And you only a need few simple ingredients, as you have seen!
Here are the simple steps to follow:
The night before, or 8 AM: Make your double pie crust and chill it for up to an hour, or overnight.
9 AM: Line a glass pie dish with the rolled out bottom crust and place it in the fridge while you make the filling.
- Slice the strawberries for your pie by hulling out the top center and then cutting them in half.
- Toss the strawberries with the sugar, balsamic, and cornstarch. Place the bowl in the fridge and let it sit for 1-2 hours.
11 AM: Use a slotted spoon to transfer the berries to the prepared bottom pie crust. Slowly add the remaining juices until they come halfway up the sides of the pie crust, almost covering the berries but not quite.
- Add the top crust, crimp, and then place the pie in the freezer for 1 hour. Getting the pie nice and cold will ensure that everything bakes at the same rate and prevent your crust from getting soggy.
12:30 PM Preheat your oven to 375°F and place a rack in the lower third. Brush the top crust with egg wash, and then liberally coat the top of the pie with sugar. Cut a few slits in the top of your pie.
- Bake the pie, watching carefully for the edges to become brown. Cover the edges with pieces of foil and continue baking until the filling bubbles beneath the slits. This should take 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes.
2:00 PM-ish Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool for 3-4 hours before slicing. This will help the pie thicken up and slice neatly.
Top tips
- Keep everything very cold - from chilling the pie dough, to chilling the bottom crust in the pie dish, to chilling the whole pie just before baking, all of this is done to ensure the butter is kept from melting too fast. In the end, this will keep your pie crust from getting soggy and yield a flaky pie!
- Build flavor - allowing the strawberries to marinate in the sugar and balsamic before adding to the pie helps the flavors will be more developed and bold. This also draws out a bit of the juice and gives it time to thicken with the cornstarch, which will yield a thick and pie filling that is not runny.
- Allow plenty of time - making a pie from scratch is good project to enjoy during a day at home. There is plenty of hands-off time in between steps to do other things - just don't be in a rush!
Serving suggestions
When stored properly, a strawberry pie can last for about 4-5 days. Once the pie is completely cool, wrap it loosely with foil and refrigerate it.
I love the taste and texture of strawberry pie cold and straight from the fridge with a glass of iced coffee. But it is also delicious warm with ice cream on top!
The best way to reheat the pie is to slice it and place it in a baking dish. Heat the oven to 350°F. Tent the dish loosely with foil and reheat for 10-12 minutes until the pie is heated through. Enjoy while hot!
Other pie recipes
If you love baking pies as much as I do, be sure to check out some of my other pie recipes!
Are you ready to make this Fresh Strawberry Balsamic Pie? I’m so excited for you to try this recipe. Once you get the chance to make it, please let me know how it turns out for you!
Leave a comment and rate the recipe below. This will help me with the creation of future recipes!
I’d also love to feature your creation in my monthly newsletter, so you can upload a photo to Instagram or Twitter with the tag @sweetcayenne5 to be featured!
Recipe
Fresh Strawberry Balsamic Pie
Ingredients
For the pie crust:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) very cold salted butter, cut into ¼'' squares
- ⅓ cup ice-cold buttermilk, plus more as needed
For the egg wash:
- 1 whole egg, lightly beaten with a fork
- 1 teaspoon water
- Sanding or granulated sugar as needed for the top of crust
For the pie filling:
- 4 ½ cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar (or balsamic reduction)
Instructions
The night before OR day of baking | 8 AM
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and sugar with a whisk. Add the butter squares and use your fingers to smear the butter into the flour mixture. Continue to incorporate the butter into the flour until the pieces of butter varied between the size of peas and oat flakes.
- Sprinkle the buttermilk into the flour and butter mixture. Use your hands to quickly incorporate the buttermilk. Add an additional tablespoon of buttermilk as needed and incorporate until the mixture forms a shaggy dough that holds together somewhat.
- Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and gently knead it into a disk that holds together. Divide the disk into two and wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.
The day of baking | 9 AM
- On a well-floured surface, roll out the bottom pie crust to ⅛'' thick. Make sure you can fit your pie plate on top of the rolled dough with about ½-1'' of a border around the diameter of the pie plate. Place the rolled dough into the pie plate and place it in the fridge while you make the filling.Slice the strawberries for your pie by hulling out the top center and then cutting them in half.Toss the strawberries with the sugar, balsamic, and cornstarch. Place the bowl in the fridge and let it sit for 1-2 hours.
11 AM
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer the berries to the prepared bottom pie crust. Slowly add the remaining juices until they come halfway up the sides of the pie crust, almost covering the berries but not quite.Roll out the top crust to ⅛'' thick. Place it on top of the berries and tuck in the edges of the pie dough around the rim and crimp with your fingers. Place the pie in the freezer for 1 hour.
12:30 PM
- Preheat your oven to 375°F and place a rack in the lower third. Brush the crust with the lightly beaten egg combined with the teaspoon of water. Sprinkle the crust liberally with granulated or sanding sugar, if desired. Cut a few slits in the top of the pie.
- Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 60-80 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and thick. Use a pieces of foil as needed to protect the crust edges from getting too dark (I put mine on at about the 45-minute mark). Remove the pie from oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool for 2-3 hours before slicing. The filling will continue to thicken and set as the pie cools.
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Notes
- Store leftover pie in the refrigerator, covering the pie dish loosely with foil, for 4-5 days.
- Enjoy leftovers cold, or slice the pie and place in a baking dish tented loosely with foil. Reheat at 350°F for 10-12 minutes, then serve.
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