This strawberry basil pie has all the best springtime vibes. Fresh strawberries, fresh, herby basil, and a heavy kick of bourbon to make it really exciting. It's the perfect combination of sweet and tart, and it has an all-butter, all-bourbon pie crust that is a crunchy, flakey, delight.
I've never been a huge fruit pie person. They were always way too sweet and syrupy for my taste. Not this pie, I've reduced the amount of sugar that's normally in pie filling, and really let the strawberries be the star of the show.
The strawberry, basil, and bourbon filling:
This filling perfect, the strawberries a soaked in ½ cup of bourbon overnight, so they absorb all the at wonderful bourbon flavor. This also helps them to break down and get really nice and sweet. After soaking, I add the fresh basil and brown sugar to give it just the right amount of sweetness.
The pastry:
I'm very proud of this pie crust pastry. Its super buttery, flavorful, and wonderfully crisp. The liquid ingredient is bourbon, which not only provides a great flavor, but the alcohol partly evaporates while baking, which makes the pastry extra crispy and flakey.
Tricks for the perfect pie crust:
- Keep all the ingredients cold. The cold butter in pie cust it what makes all the nice layers in the pastry.
- Chill, but don't freeze the dough. The goal is to make sure that the butter is nice and firm, but that the dough is still workable.
- Chill the dough between all steps. Once you roll it and put it the bottom layer in your pie pan, chill it while you finish your filling.
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THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING ABOUT THIS AWESOME PIE! IF YOU MAKE IT BE SURE TO LEAVE A COMMENT AND/OR GIVE THIS RECIPE A RATING! I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR EVERYONE'S THOUGHTS!
Strawberry, Bourbon, and Basil Pie
- Prep Time: 12 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 13 hours
- Yield: 1 pie 1x
- Category: Pie
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Ingredients
For the pastry:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
- ½ cup cold bourbon
For the filling:
- 2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced in half
- ½ cup bourbon
- 1 tablespoon chopped basil
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- Juice from ½ lemon
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 large egg, beaten and granulated sugar for topping the unbaked pie
Instructions
- Start the filling the night before by soaking the cut and hulled strawberries in the ½ cup of bourbon.
- Add the flour, salt, and sugar to a food processor and pulse and few times to blend everything together.
- Add in the cubed cold butter and pulse until the butter is pea and lima bean-sized. Add the bourbon and mix just enough so it lightly comes together. It will still look loose but will stick together when you squeeze a chunk of it in your fist.
- Pour the dough out onto a well-floured surface and lightly knead until it forms a disk. Divide it into two equal disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- To make the filling, in a medium bowl, toss together strawberry and bourbon mixture, basil, sugars, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Mix until all of the cornstarch has disappeared into the strawberries and let rest for 10 minutes.
- To assemble the pie, on a well-floured surface, roll the bottom crust ⅛ inch thick and about 12 inches in diameter. Transfer it to a pie pan.
- Using a slotted spoon, spoon filling into the piecrust, leaving a majority of the liquid in the bowl.
- Roll out the top crust in the same manner. Slice the dough into 1-inch wide strips and weave the crust strips on top of the pie. Pinch the top and the bottom layers together to seal them.
- Brush the egg wash over pie crust, then sprinkle with sugar.
- Place pie on baking sheet with a layer of foil or parchemnt and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350°F and bake the pie for 45 minutes more, or until the crust is golden and the strawberry filling is bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 4 hours.
Keywords: Strawberry Basil Pie
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