After a short break for the holiday’s, the Secret Recipe Club is back! Hundreds of food bloggers take part in this fun monthly event, where we’re assigned a blog to feature a recipe from. The blogger doesn’t know who’s been assigned their blog until the designated reveal day. This month I was assigned, Fearless Homemaker. A blog owned by Amy, a delightful woman from Nashville who is a self-described, “foodie, cocktail lover and entertaining enthusiast.” Her recipes and pictures are excellent, and I highly recommend a visit to her blog.

As soon as I seen her recipe for Strawberry Pie, and that it was baked in a cast-iron skillet, I knew it was what I was going to make. The rustic look of such a sweet dessert had me hooked. She further ups the ante by using a shortbread crust. Perfect for me, since I had a recipe for a gluten-free shortbread crust. The finished product didn’t disappoint. The crust was rich and buttery, while the strawberry filling was like a mouthful of Spring Time. We tried it alone, as well as with some fresh whipped cream. Both ways were delicious. (My adaptions’ to the recipe, so I could make it gluten-free are in red)

Fresh Strawberry Pie with Shortbread Crust

For The Crust: (I used a homemade gluten-free shortbread crust. Recipe further below}
1 (5-ounce) package shortbread cookies
2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

For The Filling:
2 pounds strawberries, hulled (see cooks’ note, below)
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin (2 1/4 teaspoons)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in middle.
Pulse cookies in a food processor to fine crumbs, then pulse in sugar and butter until combined. Press crumb mixture evenly onto bottom and up the sides of 2 mini cast iron skillet’s. (I used 1 - 9-inch skillet instead) Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. (A 9-inch pie plate may be used as well.)
Select 10 large strawberries as close to same size as possible, set aside. Cut remaining berries into 1/4” dice and toss with sugar and lemon juice. Let stand, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Drain berries in a sieve set into a large glass measuring cup. Add enough water to measure 2 cups. Transfer liquid to a medium saucepan and reserve berries.
Sprinkle gelatin over strawberry liquid and let soften 1 minute. Bring to a bare simmer, stirring until gelatin has dissolved. Add diced berries, then transfer to a metal bowl set into an ice bath. Stir frequently until mixture begins to mound, 20 – 30 minutes.
Spoon filling into pie crust and arrange reserved whole berries, stem ends down, on filling. Chill pie until filling is set, at least 4 hours.

Gluten-Free Buttery Shortbread Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour mix
1/2 cup, (1 stick) butter, melted
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl with a fork, mix butter, vanilla, flour and powdered sugar until crumbly. In a 8-inch or 9-inch pie plate, pat crumb mixture evenly being sure to come up the sides to the edge. Crimp the dough with a fork or fingers. Bake for 25 minutes. {If using a cast iron skillet like I did, I recommend greasing the pan with butter before putting the crust in.}

Cooks’ Notes:
-pie crust can be made 2 days ahead and kept (covered once cool) at room temperature.
-filled pie can be chilled, loosely covered, up to 1 day.
-while not as dramatic as whole large berries, if you find juicy small berries, cut them into quarters or halves. it may take longer for mixture to set, but pie will taste just as good.