After the success of my invented strawberry pie filling a couple of weeks ago, I decided to try a full-sized version this week.

I followed most of my mom’s tips for pastry and I have to admit, it worked really well this week. The bit of extra liquid (6 tablespoons instead of my usual 4) made the dough very soft, and it rolled out so easily and was very workable. The one thing I didn’t do was make it with milk – I used water instead on the off chance that the Captain would want to try it. The finished result was okay – better than my past few efforts, I would say, but you can really taste the difference the milk makes, I think. My version bakes up okay but just isn’t as flavourful as my mother’s.

Here’s the filling going in. It’s made from around 5-6 cups of chopped strawberries, 1 cup sugar (I think I’d use 3/4 cup next time), 1/4 cup flour, and a generous sprinkle of cinnamon.

Then I baked it at 375, even though my mother specficially told me to bake pies at 400. I have no explanation or defense for my actions – I was just afraid of burning. My oven bakes a little hot and my mother’s bakes a little cool and so I think it probably balanced out.

It doens’t look like much, does it? I think I need to experiment with some pastry cut-outs or sprinkles of sugar or something to make my pies look a little more dynamic.

Here’s a shot of the last slice left.

So I think this pie was good. I made it for ladies’ poker night and everyone had some and I had lots of compliments. I like the strawberry pie filling very much, but I personally was disappointed – after last weekend’s visit with my mom I expected major improvements in the taste of my crusts. I’d give this one a B at best.

I’m going to try this pie one more time this coming weekend – I’m hosting a lunch for FameThrowa’s fiancee’s parents, and I think it will make a nice summery dessert. We’ll see if I can crank it up to an A.

In other news, while making this pie I also made three dozen banana mini-muffins, and this adorable mini-sized birthday cake for MyFriendJen:

Now the cake? Was super yum. I was trying for that prototypical birthday cake with the pink icing and the sprinkles and I was happy with the way it turned out. It’s a keeper!