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Friday, June 15, 2012

Strawberries & Cream Mile-High Pie


If you are wanting to please Dad (or anyone else at any particular time) this Father's day, here's a dessert for you! My hubby requests this dessert more than any other one we make! It's a winner! (And for those of you who are gluten free eaters, there is a variation for this too!)

This is an old family recipe. I got it from my mother in-law, who got it from her mother. And I don't know where she got it. But I do know why it's stayed in the family for these 3 generations. And that's because it's so delicious and fun to eat. If I were to explain why I think it's called mile-high pie, it would be because it looks so big and high sitting on your plate, and after you've eaten a piece it's almost disappointing it's gone. The ingredients are so light and fluffy you'll hardly notice you ate it! So if you want to eat the whole pan than you probably could! And if you are one who tries to not eat too many sweets than you can get away with eating a big piece and not feel like you've consumed 1,000 calories!



The base of this dish is frozen strawberries, egg whites, sugar, a little lemon juice and a touch of cream! This is what my husband has almost always requested for his birthday since we've been married. And we have it at several family birthday parties each year on my husbands side of the family! So it's a favorite to all!

I've included some step-by-step pictures and instructions so you can see how this comes together (and the full recipe and printable version are listed below). It's not hard to make, just make sure you follow the steps and it will turn out perfect!

Enjoy!






Place 1.5 sleeves of graham crackers in a zip top bag and roll
with a rolling pin until they are evenly crushed.

Pour all but about 3/4 cup of the crumbs in the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan or glass casserole dish

NEXT follow these 9 pictures in the collage 
1.  Place egg whites, sugar and lemon juice in a stand mixer (it needs a lid) BOSCH works great. 
2. Let the frozen strawberries thaw for 5-15 minutes or until you can crush the berry under the pressure of your fingers 
3. Add the berries to the egg whites/sugar/lemon juice and begin to whip on high speed. Don't whip before this step. 
4. Whip for 5-10 minutes or until mixture is full and fat (it grows 4-5 times the size it began with. 
5. Whip 1 cup of whipping cream
6. Fold the cream and berry mixture together, taking care to do it gently, you don't want to lose all the air you just made with all that whipping.  
7. Make sure you have the bottom of your 9x13 pan coated with graham cracker crumbs. 
8. Spread the berry/cream mixture gently over the graham crackers, 
9. Top with the remaining graham cracker crumbs until it's completely covered.  


*See gluten-free option below

Strawberries & Cream Mile-High Pie

Ingredients:


2 large egg whites
⅔ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice (bottled or fresh)
10 ounces frozen strawberries, slightly thawed - see notes below (we prefer garden fresh that we freeze ourselves for a richer flavor)
------------------------------------------------
1 cup whipping cream
1 ½ sleeves of graham crackers, separated (gluten free option, is using crushed rice chex cereal or gluten free graham cracker substitute


Directions:


In a gallon size zip top bag place 1 ½ sleeves of graham crackers and zip closed.  Roll with a rolling pin until the crackers are crushed as evenly as possible.  Pour all but ¾ cup onto the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan (with lid) or a glass casserole dish and spread evenly.  Reserve the ¾ cup for the top of the pie.


Get strawberries out of freezer and set on the counter for about 5 minutes, when they have softened enough so that you could pinch one and it would crush it then it’s just right.  It will still be partially frozen.


Attach whips to a large stand mixer (such as a BOSCH) and place egg whites, sugar, lemon juice, and slightly thawed strawberries, make sure your mixer lid is on.  It is important to mix these ingredients together and NOT separately! Mix on high speed for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is stiff, fat and full. It will fill up your entire bowl after it has mixed this long.  Carefully scrape this mixture into an extra large mixing bowl. In the same mixer whip whipping cream until peaks form (about 2-3 minutes).  Scrape whipped cream into the large mixing bowl with the strawberry mixture.  Gently fold the whipping cream into the strawberry mixture until it is mixed well.  Do not over mix or you will lose some of the air and fluff of the mixture.  If there are small streaks of white cream it’s just fine!


Pile this mixture high on the graham cracker crumb crust taking care not to handle it too much (save the fluff).  Top with remaining graham cracker crumbs and cover with lid or plastic  wrap and freeze for 12-24 hours before serving.  You want it nice and firm before serving, and it thaws really fast!


Enjoy!

Recipe Source: my mother in-law, Maureen G. who got it from Grandma Jensen, it's an old family recipe!






Original Picture from 6/15/12

22 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    2. Pasteurized eggs. No problem.

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    3. I'm not sure they will work - I did some research and they don't whip up like regular egg whites.

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    4. Quality eggs need not be pasteurized...also cool temps whip peopl..really?? Why would you want emulsified refined oil in place of fresh pasture cream?That stuff is poison and too dang sweet!

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  2. Can I use cool whip instead of the whipping cream?

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    1. I haven't ever tried it. This recipe only calls for 1 cup of whipping cream, I'm not sure how much it grows in volume when whipped maybe to 2-3 cups. Also the whipping cream isn't sweetened - but gets some of the sweetness from the mixture you fold it into. I know Cool Whip is already sweetened and doesn't quite taste the same as cream so I'm not sure what the result would be. It will definitely be sweeter. If you try, please let us know what you think.

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  3. Can you use a hand mixer

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    Replies
    1. I'm not sure. I've never tried it. The frozen berries really go flying and take a lot to get whipped up. I'd say you'd need a stand mixer (like BOSCH or Kitchenaid). If you try it though, let me know how it works.

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  4. Thank you so much for the chex cereal tip! I'm allergic to wheat and this was a great substitution. I also used cool whip in place of the cream (it's what I had on hand) and cut back the granulated sugar a bit. Turned out great - a hit at the party!

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    Replies
    1. Awesome! We're so glad to hear it! Thanks for sharing that it worked! Happy 4th of July!

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  5. Could you do this w/ bananas?

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    Replies
    1. I'm not sure it would, it might be a fun experiment, but I've never tried it. I've got a recipe with blueberries on the blog here too.

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  6. Do you drain your strawberries?

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    Replies
    1. I use them frozen and only let them the for a few minutes, so they are still partially frozen, they've never been wet for me. If yours have a lot of extra ice in them from the freezer, I'd try to get it off if possible.

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  7. What kind of mixer did I see in the first picture. It had 2 side beaters??

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  8. It is still hot out and I also had my oven on baking lasagna while making this recipe. I could whip the sugar and eggs but nothing about the heavy whipping cream wanted to rise. My Mom told me to freeze the bowl and beaters and keep the cream in the fridge until ready to whip. that did make a huge difference but still not enough so I attribute that to the sheer warmth of my kitchen at the time. We haven't tried to eat it yet but it still looks good.

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    Replies
    1. Hi! Thanks for leaving a comment. I hope you enjoyed it! Did you do the cream separately? Lasagna and mile high pie sound yummy!

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  9. Can you use any other fruits? Not a strawberry fan, but the recipe sounds delicious!

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    Replies
    1. http://www.leeshandlusrecipebox.com/2016/05/blueberries-n-cream-mile-high-pie.html

      This blueberry and cream my high pie is also delicious!. I've also froze tiny diced peaches and used that before too.

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