I love this time of year. Well, kind of, I love this time of year for the produce it brings and the anticipation of summertime. The weather can be kind of a mixed bag here in the mountains. We often move right from winter into summer. But this spring has actually been really nice, with plenty of sunshine and fairly warm temps too! It’s got me craving the warm summer days ahead. Which is probably the reasoning behind this pie. It uses up those delicious spring strawberries, but it still feels summery, and I kind of like that. The strawberries right now are as sweet as can be. So with a fridge full of fresh berries, edible flowers that just arrived, and herbs that are finally beginning to grow, I’ve been provided with plenty of inspiration. Enter this pie. I just wanted to use what I had, everything looked so pretty and smelled even better, so I made pretzel pie… This double strawberry pretzel pie is infused with flavor, heavy on the strawberries, and made with a buttery, toasty and salty pretzel crust. It’s not your average pretzel pie.
crust after baking
pie before chilling
The process.
What I love about this pie is that it’s easy, no fuss, and anyone can make it. The crust. It’s made with pretzels, maple syrup, and butter. Sooo, it’s salty, sweet, and buttery. It’s so easy to make and requires no rolling out or chilling of the dough. Just mix, press the dough into a pie plate, and blind bake it. The crust gets toasted until golden and lightly browned, giving it a bit of a nutty browned butter flavor. Meaning it is perfectly delicious.
If you have a food processor, this makes very quick work of mixing the crust. If not, no worries at all, just crush the pretzels in a bag (you can even just step on the bag). Then just mix the crust together in a mixing bowl. Do whatever option works best for you. While the crust is baking, I like to make the filling, which is a little more traditional, but then it’s also not. I used cream cheese to keep things thick and creamy, but I wanted this strawberry pie to be a little looser than most. To do this, I added heavy cream to create more of a whipped cream texture. So there’s thickened cream on the edges, but while the pie sits on your plate, the center of the cream slowly softens into a bit more of a whipped cream texture.
I then stirred in a bit of strawberry jam. You guys, I love jam. More specifically, I love mixing jam with fresh berries, it’s the flavors and the texture. Jam is sweeter, jammier, and more concentrated. Berries are juicy and fresh. Both are good on their own, but so much better together. And it is so DELICIOUS. You get the best of both worlds, thick and creamy edges, then a light and creamy center…with so many berries on top!
The berries!!
Oh the berries! The berries are so very special. They’re tossed with St. Germain (which is elderflower liquor), lemony mint, and lemon. I ordered fresh elderflowers and petite mint lemon online and the minute I received them I was so excited to put the two together. Of course, I don’t expect you all to have these two ingredients, but if you have elderflower liquor and fresh mint, that works too!
PS. I do realize that I’m fully obsessed with edible flowers, petite microgreens, and herbs. PSS. If you’ve never smelled fresh elderflower, you must order some just for that reason alone. It’s like spring in a flower. And no, I am not being paid to say this…I just love edible flowers! Now, layer everything together and you’ll have the perfect double strawberry pretzel pie.
Notes…
Ok, now some notes because you need to know a few things. Thing one: you need to allow time for the pie to chill. The cream needs time to set up and become firm enough for slicing, so be sure to plan ahead when making this. Thing two: slicing this pie is messy. Yeah, messy, but in the best way possible. With the berries on top and the cream on the bottom, it’s just a messy pie to cut into. Do not let this scare you away. Sometimes you just need to embrace the mess. It’s usually a delicious thing. Ok, and thing two brings me to thing three. Thing three: if you want a cleaner cut, freeze your pie, which is what I did for these photos. Freezing the pie makes creating clean slices super easy. By the time you’ve sliced the pie, it’s pretty thawed out and perfect for eating. That said, the frozen pie will not be quite as creamy as the non-frozen pie. Which is why I’m providing you with BOTH variations. Use the one you’ll love best. Weekend plans… Strawberry pretzel pie making on Saturday…just in time for Mother’s Day brunch on Sunday. Perfect timing, I know, I know. See ya tomorrow for another new cocktail.
Lastly, if you make this double strawberry pretzel pie, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
