I don’t feel like this one needs much introduction. Fresh strawberries. In a pie. That’s a slab. Perfect for summer.

Seriously though. Whether you’re feeding a crowd or just a gaggle of kids like me, this pie slab is the ideal summer sweet treat. With very minimal ingredients, you’ll never need to buy that icky, chemical-tasting premade strawberry pie gel bag from the store again!

And, using my Give Me All The Butter Pie Crust, it’s absolutely scrumptious. But, if you’re in a real hurry, you can just use premade pie crust. I don’t think anyone will complain!

You will want to start by preparing the crust (recipe below). Just a heads-up; this dough is thick and heavy. Even if you have a nice countertop mixing stand, I would strongly advise to only mix up one batch at a time. To make the strawberry cut-outs on top, I prepared 2 dough balls (2 batches of dough). One for the pie slab bottom and one for the cut-outs. You can also make this into a regular pie shape if you aren’t feeding as many people – in which case one batch will do the trick!

Butter Pie Crust

Made with butter and a few other not-near-as-important ingredients.

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Ingredients

  

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup cold salted butter cut into small cubes
• 1/2 cup ice water
• 2 metal pie pans Why metal pans? Because this is an all butter crust, it needs to be frozen before baking to keep the pie shape. The extreme temp change from freezer to oven could cause glass to shatter.

Instructions

 

• In a stand mixer, or by hand with a pastry cutter if you're old school like that, blend the dry ingredients together.
• Add butter. Mix until the butter chunks are no bigger than blueberries.
• Add 1/2 cup of ice water and mix until a dough ball forms.
• Remove ball and cut in half. Flatten into 2 large pancake dough discs.
• Flour counter and roll out dough half a few inches larger than the pie pan you are using.
• Line the buttered pan with the pie dough, tuck under the edges evenly and beautify -AKA- "crimp" the edges. Poke holes throughout the bottom of the crust using a fork.
• Place the crimped pie shells into the freezer for at least an hour before baking but preferably overnight.
• When you are ready to bake your pie, fill the frozen crust and bake immediately. Do not thaw the crust.
• Preheat oven to 400. After 15 minutes, reduce oven to 375 and bake according to your recipe. Starting out with a very hot oven helps keep the shape of your crimping.

Notes

This recipe makes 2 regular sized pie crusts (top and bottom). But, if you are making a slab pie, this recipe will make 1 slab pie crust.

Once your crust is rolled and crimped out onto your prepared 9×13 metal sheet pan and placed in the freezer, start rolling out your next batch onto a floured surface. You will want the dough to be approx. 1/4″ thick. Using a small heart cookie cutter and a leaf cookie cutter (mine was a maple leaf shape), start cutting out one heart for each leaf. I placed 24 strawberries on my pie slab.

Placing the heart shapes on a cookie sheet, add the leaf shape to the top of the heart, slightly overlapping the 2 humps. With a skewer, poke random holes throughout the body of the now strawberry shape. Next, strain 2 fresh eggs over a bowl and get rid of the egg yolks.

You can use Martha Stewart’s super easy trick for yolk removal seen here!

Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the strawberry cutouts with the egg whites, making sure to lift up the leaf and apply a bit to help adhere the 2 cut-outs together while baking.

Bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Now for the Strawberry Filling!

Summer Strawberry Slab Pie

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Ingredients

  

• 2 3 oz box Strawberry Gelatin
• 4 tbsp Corn Starch
• 2 cups Water
• 4 lbs Fresh Strawberries washed & sliced

Instructions

 

• Once your pie slab has baked and cooled, whisk together the gelatin and cornstarch in a small sauce pan.
• Slowly whisk in the water and bring to a simmer.
• Continue to whisk for about 5 minutes, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan. Once the gelatin mixture has thickened, pour it into a medium bowl and continue to whisk for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.
• Let the mixture cool for 15 minutes, only whisking occasionally. The mix should be runny.
• Taking your rinsed, dried and sliced strawberries, place them in a decorative pattern on the bottom of the cooled piecrust slab.
• Pour the strawberry gelatin over the berries and place the pie in the refrigerator until set – about 1 hour.
• Slice and serve with a dollop of whipped cream!

It’s no secret that I adore pie slabs! Make sure to check out my other pie slab ideas on the blog: Pumpkin Pie Cake Pie Slab, Perfectly Perfect Apple Pie Slab and Peach Pie Slab. YUM!