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Strawberry season on the farm coast is short. Three weeks, maybe four if the weather is generous. The berries that come out of these fields in June are smaller than the ones at the grocery store, darker all the way through, and they do not keep. You buy them in the morning and deal with them by evening. That’s the trade for fruit this fresh.
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This morning’s came from a farm stand at the edge of a coastal field — a small weathered shed built for exactly this, the kind of place that looks like it has always been there. A hand-painted sign, quarts picked the day before or the morning of, some still warm from the field. You don’t plan the stop; you’re driving a coastal road, the sign says strawberries, and that’s that. The Saturday markets fill with them this time of year too — the same fields, a different table. Either way, you can’t get these in February. A June strawberry is only within reach for a few weeks, and then it’s gone — reason enough to stop the car.
Three weeks of berries. One pie. A fair trade.
One June Strawberry Pie
Every June I make one strawberry pie. One. Not a season of strawberry desserts, not a list of ten ways to use a quart. A single pie, made once, when the local berries arrive — and that is the only time of year I make it.
You don’t plan the pie — the season steers your menu. There is no date on the calendar. The berries decide the week; the market decides the morning. All the kitchen has to do is say yes while the strawberries are here.
This is a simple pie of the freshest strawberries tossed in a quick glaze, in a graham cracker crust and topped with a shameful amount of freshly whipped cream. That’s it. But it marks a rhythm in my life, evokes the fondest of memories and transports with a single bite. There are many foods that will do that, and often they are the ones that we have only seasonally. They are different for every family, for every person even. For me and my family strawberry pie in June is one of them — and the list is long.
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Strawberry Season, Eating Simply
There is a version of seasonal eating that arrives with a lecture. This is not that. Eating in season on this coast is mostly a matter of paying attention: the farm stands tell you what week it is more reliably than the calendar does. June is strawberries. August is tomatoes and corn. September is apples, October is cranberries, and the year turns over again.
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What you get for the attention is flavor, of course — a June strawberry from a Rhode Island field is a different fruit from the one that rode here in a truck. The strawberries will be gone by July — and being brief is part of why they’re worth your morning. But the better return is rhythm. The table changes because the fields change. The meal carries a date in it. You remember the year in suppers — the way a June table remembers peonies, the way an evening on Bristol Harbor remembers the light.
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Eat what the coast grows, while it grows.
Fresh Strawberry Pie
Equipment
- mixer, hand or stand optional
- food processor or blender optional
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs about 1.5 sleeves
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 6 Tbsp butter, melted
- 1 pinch salt
Filling
- 5 pints fresh strawberries divided
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 (3 oz) packages strawberry Jell-O
- 1 tsp real vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 2 tsp strawberry extract
Whipped Cream
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream very cold
- 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Crush the graham crackers until fine in a food processor or blender.
- Mix the crumbs, butter, granulated sugar, and salt in a bowl with a fork until well combined and it looks like wet sand.
- Press into a 10-inch pie plate using the bottom and sides of a measuring cup.
- Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden and fragrant.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
Filling
- Add the granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt to a saucepan and mix to distribute the cornstarch evenly.
- Puree 1 pint of the strawberries in a blender or food processor until liquid.
- Add the pureed strawberries, water, and lemon juice to the sugar mixture and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and strawberry extracts and the Jell-O; stir gently until the Jell-O is fully dissolved.
- Hull and halve the remaining 4 pints of strawberries and add them to a large mixing bowl.
- When the glaze is completely cooled, add it to the strawberries and fold gently until coated.
- Fill the cooled graham cracker crust with the glazed strawberries, arranging slightly so they sit nicely.
- Chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.
Whipped cream
- Chill the mixing bowl, beater/whisk attachment, and container of heavy cream in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Add the heavy cream, confectioners sugar, vanilla, and salt to the cold bowl and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Spread the whipped cream over the chilled, set pie and add a strawberry garnish if you like.
- Slice and enjoy immediately.
Sources
French market basket — via Amazon.
Ruffled stoneware pie plate — via Amazon.
White ceramic berry basket— via Amazon.
Rattan table lamp — via Walmart
Linen apron — via Amazon.
Laguiole flatware — via Amazon.
Laguiole cake knife and server set — via Amazon.
Blue and white striped linen napkins — via Amazon.
White dinner plates — via Amazon.
