Strawberry Whipped Cream Pie

Filled with whipped cream and pureed strawberries, Strawberry Whipped Cream Pie is fresh and light and the perfect simple summer dessert.

Strawberry Whipped Cream Pie

My Strawberry Whipped Cream Pie dates back a number of years–to Mother’s Day of 2016, when I created it for two reasons.  First, I needed a new pie to serve at my Mother’s Day brunch where the standards are always high.  And second, I was challenged with having too many frozen strawberries in my freezer (I know, first world problems).   

You see, As a dedicated locavore, I try to preserve lots (LOTS) of fruit to get through the long Wisconsin winter.   But that year my self-proclaimed “fruititarian” daughter went away to college–and the household smoothie consumption took a big hit. 

Ultimately, it all worked out beautifully, since this was the hit of Mother’s Day brunch!  Yes, the pie was so fruity and fluffy that it got the nickname Strawberry Silk Pie! 

Strawberry Whipped Cream Pie

What is Strawberry Pie? 

My homemade strawberry pie in a graham cracker crust is filled with a mixture of pureed strawberries and whipped cream thickened with gelatin.  But as I did research to update this post, I learned that a version of this pie had actually existed for ages—and was commonly called a Strawberry Cool Whip Pie. 

But that pie contained two ingredients that I don’t use–Cool Whip and Strawberry Jell-O. Happily, my all-natural version is still super easy and tasty!

Now to avoid any confusion, there is another well-known Strawberry Pie, that I call Fresh Strawberry Pie.  It’s full of whole fresh strawberries in a jelled syrup.  It’s delicious but really needs fresh berries so is a little more limiting. 

But my Whipped Strawberry Pie is perfect for making Strawberry Pie with frozen strawberries!

Strawberry Whipped Cream Pie

How is this More Natural? 

As a natural foodie, I don’t use Cool Whip or Jello.  But since both of these were created to imitate natural foods, making this pie with natural ingredients is easy.    

Yes, Cool Whip’s ingredient list bears little resemblance to natural whipped cream. Per Eat This, Not That “Kraft Cool Whip’s first ingredient is water, followed by hydrogenated vegetable oil, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, and — finally — skim milk… Alas, Cool Whip is mostly just syrupy oil.” 

And while Strawberry Jell-O is thickened with gelatin just like my recipe, it also contains ingredients like Red 40, artificial flavors and a couple other things I can’t identify.  But you don’t need to make strawberry pie with jello since all natural gelatin works so well.

Yes, I always keep gelatin on hand since it keeps very well.  A few years back, I bit the “expensive shipping” bullet and bought a big bag of GoBio Organic Gelatin out of Canada.  Today there are a number of organic options available on Amazon and elsewhere. 

Strawberry Whipped Cream Pie

Why You’ll Love This!

Tasty.  This pie is so good, I even take it as an “extra” pie on Thanksgiving.

Easy.  As a no-bake strawberry pie, this is really very easy even though it looks special!   

Natural.  With all natural ingredients, you know just what you’re eating! You can even go all organic if you want!

Strawberry Whipped Cream Pie undecorated

What You’ll Need

Ingredient Notes

  • Strawberries. This provides the strawberry goodness and flavor.  You can use fresh or frozen.
  • Granulated sugar.This is used to sweeten the strawberries
  • Gelatin powder.  This helps to thickens the strawberry pie filling.
  • Water.  This is used to dissolve the gelatin.
  • Heavy cream.  This provides lightness, creaminess and structure to the filling.
  • Powdered sugar.  This is used to sweeten the whipped cream.
  • Vanilla.  This helps to flavor the whipped cream.
  • Graham cracker crust.  This holds the filling.  You can use packaged or homemade
  • Optional additional whipped cream and fresh strawberries. For decorating

Special Tools

Assuming you have a mixer (it doesn’t even need to be free standing), you don’t need any unusual tools. 

Step by Step Directions

Puree the berries and granulated sugar. strawberry silk001

Whip 1 3/4 cup heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla until mostly thickened.

Combine gelatin and cool water in small saucepan. Let stand until thick, about 5 minutes. Place over low heat, stirring  until gelatin dissolves (it will be clear when dissolved). Don’t let it get too hot. (You can still see some little beads in this so it needs more stirring.)

Stir gelatin until dissolved

Remove from heat, then stir in 2 Tablespoons of heavy cream.  (This will help keep the gelatin from clumping when added to the whipped cream.) While beating slowly, gradually add dissolved gelatin mixture to whipped cream mixture. Whip at high speed until stiff.  strawberry silk003

Fold in pureed berries.   strawberry silk005 strawberry silk006

Pour into graham cracker crust and smooth the top.  strawberry silk008

Let sit in the refrigerator to thicken for a few hours or overnight.  Decorate with fresh strawberries and whipped cream if desired. 

How to Serve

I usually serve this as a dessert for special occasion dinners or brunches.  But it’s easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner if you’re feeling the need for something special.

I like to garnish the pie with whipped cream rosettes and fresh strawberries, but I think it’s even pretty if left plain!  I added a few sprinkles too this time for fun!. 

CLose up of pie

Variations

Strawberries make beautiful desserts and are so fun and festive!  For a healthier strawberry pie, take a look at my No-Bake Strawberry Yogurt Pie

Or consider the Midwest supper club tradition Strawberry Schaum Torte which is a dessert of meringue topped with ice cream and strawberries.

And you can drink your strawberry “dessert“ as well!  Consider a Frozen Strawberry Margarita or a White Chocolate Strawberry Martini.

Preparation and Leftovers

This will keep for a few days in the refrigerator—in fact, I usually make it the day before (or at least a few hours before) since the gelatin will get thicker as it sits.  But for best results don’t decorate it until the day you are serving it.  I have never tried freezing it, though I’m running an experiment now and will let you know how that goes!

Strawberry Whipped Cream Pie

Tips & FAQs

If you are making this with fresh strawberries and weighing them, weigh them after you take off the stems.  If you want to eyeball it instead, just take a look at my bowl.

8 ounces berries

The biggest challenge of working with gelatin is making sure it doesn’t clump up prematurely if added to a cold ingredient (like, um, whipped cream…).  To solve this problem, this recipe adds a little extra liquid cream to the dissolved gelatin before adding it.  That dilutes it enough to not clump and, since it’s cream not extra water, doesn’t water down the whipped cream. 

Be sure to use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream rather than whipping cream.  Per the FDA, the first two are required to contain 36% or more milkfat, while whipping cream (without the “heavy”) can have from 30-35%.  The extra milkfat will give you a thicker whipped texture that provides better structure.  This is true if you are piping out swirls for the topping too (though the lower fat version is fine for dollops).

 

Strawberry WHipped Cream Pie

Strawberry Whipped Cream Pie

Filled with whipped cream and pureed strawberries, Strawberry Whipped Cream Pie is fresh and light and the perfect simple summer dessert.
Author: Inger
4.67 from 3 votes
Prep Time 20 mins
Resting Time 4 hrs
Total Time 4 hrs 20 mins
Course Dessert
Servings 8
Calories 363 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 8 ounces strawberries fresh or frozen, about 2 cups berries/1 cup puree
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder (you can use the full 2 1/2 teaspoons from a Knox gelatin packet)
  • 3 Tablespoons water cool
  • 1 7/8 cups heavy cream divided into 1 3/4 and 2 Tablespoons
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 graham cracker crust packaged or homemade
  • Optional whipped cream fresh strawberries for decorating

Instructions
 

  • Puree the berries and granulated sugar.
  • Whip 1 3/4 cup of the heavy cream until lightly thickened (there will be 2 Tablespoons left). Whip in powdered sugar and vanilla for a few seconds, just until blended in.
  • Combine gelatin and cool water in small saucepan. Let stand until thick, about 5 minutes. Place over low heat, stirring constantly just until gelatin dissolves (it will be clear when dissolved). Don't let it get too hot. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining 2 Tablespoons of heavy cream
  • While beating slowly, gradually add gelatin mixture to whipped cream. Whip at high speed until stiff.
  • Fold in pureed berries then pour into graham cracker crust and smooth the top. Decorate with fresh strawberries and whipped cream (see note) if desired.
  • Pie can be eaten immediately but will thicken more if refrigerated for a few hours or overnight.

Notes

Pie can be made 1-2 days ahead of time. If you would also like to decorate ahead of time, you can use stabiliized whipped cream which will hold up a couple days.
Calories don't include any decorations.

Nutrition

Calories: 363kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 4gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 63mgSodium: 118mgPotassium: 122mgFiber: 1gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 824IUVitamin C: 17mgCalcium: 48mgIron: 1mg
I am not a health professional and nutrition data is calculated programatically. Accuracy may vary with product selection, calculator accuracy, etc. Consult a professional for the best information.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Updated from May 11, 2016.

12 thoughts on “Strawberry Whipped Cream Pie

    1. Inger Post author

      I think it should probably work (surprisingly blueberries have a lower water ratio than strawberries so it should hold together), but not sure if it will be as satisfying. There can be something off-putting about eating (some, not all) blue food. I think of the time in high school I decided to frost our usual pink and green topped cookies with blue frosting and it soooo didn’t go over well–as in only I ate them and that was after everything else was gone! But if you give it a try, let me know how it goes–this year I have tons of frozen blueberries rather than strawberries!

      Of course I can recommend my Blueberry Galette which is great with frozen berries and super easy if you use a commercial pie crust (I use the refrigerated rolled up crust). Or my Blueberry Buckle which is like an extra fruity coffee cake. Both recipes use at least 3 cups of fruit so can make a dent in your supplies! Have fun!

  1. Rebecca

    This recipe is a winner! It is light, not overly sweet, plenty of strawberry flavor, and easy to prepare. Your efforts paid off.
    Thank you!

    1. Inger Post author

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It’s a big family favorite–in fact, my youngest just asked for this instead of a birthday cake!

  2. Amber

    Just wondering, i just made 2 of these and they were not very thick when i put them in the crusts. Will they thicken in the fridge?

    1. Inger Post author

      Yes, they will thicken some as they cool–kind of like jello sets. A lot of the thickness comes from the whipped cream though, so if they are really floppy, the cream may not have been whipped enough. But the gelatin should add stiffness–plus lasting power so this will keep longer than a day as it sets. Good luck with your dessert.

  3. David

    Inger – first, this is absolutely beautiful. Second, I bet it tastes amazing! And third, I love the evolution of your technique. Can’t wait to make this.

  4. Louise

    Gallons? Really Inger? Oh how I wish I would find gallons of harvested strawberries in the freezer:( I am waiting patiently (impatiently) for Strawberry season to arrive.

    Your Whipped Strawberry Pie looks amazing! I congratulate you on your patience for getting it just right!

    Thanks so much for sharing, Inger…

  5. Karis

    This reminds me of a jello / cool whip pie I used to make back in the day. Looking forward to trying a real food version when strawberry season resumes (December-April here).

  6. grace

    oh, i’d say you’ve definitely achieved the perfect strawberry pie, if your photos are any indication! that texture looks amazing! i LOVE strawberry season. 🙂

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