Fresh Strawberry Cream Pie – Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Glorious strawberries are the star in this easy and delicious fresh strawberry cream pie. It can be made with a graham cracker or classic pie crust!

This incredible strawberry pie has layers of buttery crust, no-bake strawberry pie filling, and luscious whipped cream topping. It is so good and a must-make when strawberries are in season!

How to Make Fresh Strawberry Pie

The first step in this summery strawberry pie is making the filling. The pie itself is not baked (other than the crust). Instead the filling is cooked and thickened on the stovetop.

1. Add 1 1/2 pounds strawberries to a saucepan and coarsely mash with a potato masher until the strawberries are juicy and in small pieces.
2. Add sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice.
3. Simmer the mixture on the stovetop, stirring constantly, until the filling is bubbling and has thickened considerably.
4. Stir in remaining fresh strawberries and let the mixture cool.

Adding chopped, fresh strawberries to the thickened pie filling gives a juicy, bright burst of strawberry flavor that you’ll appreciate with every delightful bite.

Graham Cracker Crust or Traditional Pie Crust

Yep. You have options.

The recipe below calls for a buttery, delicious graham cracker crust. The simplicity cannot be beat, and it is delicious with the strawberry filling and creamy topping.

However, if traditional pie crusts are more your thing, you can easily sub one in for the graham cracker crust. If doing so, the pie crust needs to be blind baked (i.e. weighed down with pie weights or dry beans and baked fully) and cooled before proceeding with the recipe.

It all boils down to preference, and you really can’t go wrong with either. I often find myself in the scenario where my heart wants so badly to be Martha Stewart and go for the pâte brisée, but my soul says “girlfriend, grab the graham crackers.” 😜

Assembling the Strawberry Cream Pie

Spread the strawberry pie filling into the pie crust and chill while you make the cream topping.

For the cream layer, whip together:

• cream cheese (just a small amount)
• powdered sugar
• vanilla
• heavy cream

Yes, it’s that easy! To avoid lumps, it helps to mix together the first three ingredients and then add the heavy cream and whip everything together.

Spread the whipped topping over the pie filling and chill for a few more hours.

Change Up the Pie Layers

You can swap the order of pie filling layers by spreading the cream mixture into the pie crust first and then adding the cooked strawberry mixture on top (make sure the strawberry filling is mostly cooled before spreading on top). BUT, if you do, I recommend using a deep 9.5-inch pie plate so the layers fit without spilling over thanks to the different “pie physics” that happen when the pie filling goes on top.

Perfect Summer Pie

This fresh strawberry cream pie is beautiful, easy-to-make, and incredibly delicious.

It just screams summer! In a nice-screaming, not horrified-screaming way. A chilled slice of this pie is the perfect end to any meal.

If you are looking for different fruit variations, let me call your attention to this amazing peach pie with a no-bake filling. And…I think you could easily swap different fruits in or out for the strawberries with this recipe below. Oooh, as I’m typing that out…what about a triple berry pie with this cream topping? That would be FABULOUS!

Enjoy!

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Fresh Strawberry Cream Pie

Yield: 10 to 10 servings

Prep Time: 1 hour hr

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Chilling Time: 2 hours hrs

Total Time: 3 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Graham Cracker Crust (see note):

• 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (about 12 to 13 rectangle graham crackers/150 to 158 g)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons salted butter, melted

Strawberry Filling:

• 2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and divided (see note)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 5 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Pinch salt

Whipped Cream Topping:

• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup cold heavy cream

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• For the crust, in a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar and mix. Stir in the melted butter until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven to cool completely.

• For the strawberry filling, add 1 1/2 pound (about 5 to 5 1/2 cups) of whole strawberries to a medium saucepan. Chop the remaining 1/2 pound strawberries and set aside.

• Use a potato masher to coarsely mash the strawberries in the saucepan until the mixture is juicy and the strawberries are in small pieces.

• Add the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture has thickened considerably, 3 to 4 minutes.

• Remove from heat and stir in the reserved chopped strawberries. Let the mixture cool to room temperature (this helps to keep the crust from getting soggy).

• Spread the strawberry filling evenly into the cooled crust. Chill while making the cream topping.

• For the whipped cream topping, in a medium bowl with a handheld electric mixer (or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), whip together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cold heavy cream and mix on low speed until fully combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue to mix until soft peaks form (take care not to over mix).

• Spread the whipped cream topping over the pie. Loosely cover and refrigerate for at least two hours or up to 12 hours before serving. Serve chilled.

Crust: you can sub in a traditional pie crust for the graham cracker crust for this recipe. If doing so, the pie crust needs to be blind baked (i.e. weighed down with pie weights or dry beans and baked fully) and cooled before proceeding with the recipe.
Strawberries: for this recipe, you’ll use 1 1/2 pounds of the fresh strawberries (these can stay whole) in the filling. The other 1/2 pound (these should be chopped) will get stirred into the filling after it has thickened on the stovetop. 
Pie Layers: you can swap the order of pie filling layers by spreading the cream mixture into the pie crust first and then adding the cooked strawberry mixture on top (make sure the strawberry filling is mostly cooled before spreading on top). If you do, I recommend using a deep 9.5-inch pie plate so the layers fit without spilling over thanks to the different “pie physics” that happen when the pie filling goes on top.

Author: Mel

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Method: No-Bake, Stovetop

Serving: 1serving (1/10th of pie), Calories: 335kcal, Carbohydrates: 42g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Cholesterol: 50mg, Sodium: 176mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 29g

Recipe Source: inspired by a recipe in Bake from Scratch magazine and from this amazing fresh peach pie recipe