I am so excited for the holiday season – my favorite time of the year! It’s always a tradition for me to bake for my family during the holidays, and a few years ago I decided to go out on a limb and make up my own recipe. Thankfully it was a success, and I’ve been making my Chocolate Bottom Strawberries & Cream Pie ever since! This pie is perfect for any gathering – I’ve made it on Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and even for random get-togethers in the summer. It’s a cold pie, so it’s always a nice change to traditional warm pies and desserts that can be a bit heavy after a big holiday meal. So, without further ado, here is my original recipe!
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1.5 sticks (12 tbsp) unsalted butter, cold
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable shortening, cold
- 1/2 cup water
Filling:
- 2/3 cup hot fudge topping
- 8 oz (1 pkg) reduced fat cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 cups strawberries, quartered
Glaze:
- 1 cup strawberries, blended
- 1 cup sugar
- 3-4 tbsp cornstarch
- 3/4 cup water
- 4-5 drops red food coloring
Instructions
Crust:
- Mix flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Dice butter and add to bowl with shortening. Pulse with mixer until butter becomes the size of peas. Pour water while mixing.
- Form dough in to ball and refrigerate for 30 min. Once chilled, roll dough in to a flat and even thickness, and place in an oven-safe pie dish.
- Bake pie crust at 350 degrees for approximately 10-15 min or until golden brown.
Filling:
- Heat hot fudge topping in microwave for 30 seconds. Once the crust has completely cooled, spread hot fudge topping over the bottom and sides of the crust. Refrigerate 1 hour or until chocolate has cooled and set.
- In a bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Spread over cooled chocolate layer and refrigerate 1 hour.
- Once the cream cheese filling has cooled and set, place sliced strawberries over the top and cover with cooled glaze (instructions below). Store pie in refrigerator to keep cool and remove 30 min prior to serving.
Glaze:
- In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, water and strawberries. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to thicken. Stir in red food coloring until you reach your desired shade of red.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and stir occasionally until glaze reaches desired consistency. Remove from heat and refrigerate in bowl until smooth and cool.
- Add glaze to the pie on top of sliced strawberries and enjoy!
xx.
