No. 12 – Strawberry Chocolate Pie

Fresh strawberries, chocolate graham crackers, sweetened whipped cream, Nutella and cream cheese.  Oh yeah!  My son’s roommate asked if I could make something that tasted like chocolate covered strawberries so I went in search of a good recipe.  I found this one on http://www.food.com/ and modified it a little bit.  It tastes a lot like a chocolate covered strawberry, so I believe we have success!

I am so grateful that my son, his girlfriend, roommate and his crew at the firehouse like pie.  It’s really kind of cute how someone stops over on Sunday to pick it up.  My husband and I usually have one piece each.  I am thankful, more than I can say, that we don’t have to eat a whole pie each week!

As you can see, this pie has a graham cracker crust so no rolling pin is needed.  You can make your own crust or purchase ready made.  Chocolate is preferred but plain will do too.

Grahams, butter and sugar.  If using unsalted butter, you can add a dash of salt.

Break about 12 whole graham crackers into pieces and place in the bowl of your Cuisinart DFP-14BCN 14-Cup Food Processor, Brushed Stainless Steel.  Or if you don’t have a food processor, place the grahams in a large Ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin. I knew I could find a good use for that rolling pin today!

Also add about 1/8 cup sugar.

Pulse until most all crackers are chopped.  A few chunks is a good thing.

Pour in 6 tablespoons melted butter and pulse again until pieces start to stick together.

Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a deep dish pie plate.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.  Cool while preparing the filling.

The filling is made in two steps.  For the bottom layer, combine the Nutella, softened cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl.

Blend with a mixer until smooth and creamy.

Spread in the bottom of the cooled pie crust.

Refrigerate while preparing the strawberry topping.

Measure about 3/4 cup of the strawberries, diced.

Put the strawberries in a pot and mash them with a potato masher or fork.

Add the sugar …

… cornstarch …

… and water.

Mix well and heat until boiling.

Stir constantly while mixture thickens.  Continue to boil for one minute.

You can skip the stage if you want to use pre-made strawberry glaze from your grocer.

Cool the glaze in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.

Clean the remainder of the strawberries and slice.

Yummy

Mix the sliced strawberries with the glaze.

Carefully spoon into the prepared pie with Nutella.

Spread as evenly as possible.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Slice and top with sweetened whip cream if desired.

Enjoy.

I can’t believe we’re already into week 12 of 2011.  Time is really flying.  Since chocolate seems to still be in season (chocolate has 4 seasons!) I think week 13 will be a chocolate brownie type pie.  It’s a lot of fun getting to pick what’s next!  Please let me know if you are looking for anything special and I’ll see what I can do.  Hope you had a chance to taste and make a Lemon Ice Box pie.  It was pretty amazing!

P.S.  Oops – I forgot to add the recipe!  Thanks Marilyn!