No Bake Strawberry Cream Pie

10:48 PM    

Without a doubt, presentation plays an essential role in pastry and dessert preparation. When equipped with pastry chef artistic skills, you can marvelously turn a dull dessert into an eye catching, delectable treat. This stunning, no bake strawberry cream pie is a striking example of such. Though simple in its ingredients and preparation, it is elegant, most tempting dessert you can come across. To make this luscious pie, you need:

Ingredients:

Chocolate Crust:
Pastry Cream Filling:
  • 1 1/2 Cups of milk.
  • 1 Cup of white chocolate chips.
  • 1/4 Cup of granulated sugar.
  • 2 Cups of strawberry, chopped.
  • 3 tbsp of cornstarch.
  • 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract.
  • 2-3 tbsp of strawberry juice concentrate.
  • 12 oz of frozen whipped cream topping, thawed (divided).
Garnish:
  • 6 fresh whole strawberries.
  • 6 stripped or plain chocolate kisses.
  • 1 tbsp of strawberry jelly.
Pastry Equipments:
  • Food processor.
  • Pastry bag.
  • 9 inch glass pie plate.
  • Small saucepan.
  • Wire whisk.
Directions:
  1. In a food processor, combine to mix 1 1/4 cups of graham crackers, 2 tbsp of confectioners sugar, 2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder and 5 tbsp of softened unsalted butter.
  2. Press crust mixture onto bottom and upside of 9 inch pie plate, then freeze till cream filling is ready.
  3. In a small saucepan, whisk while stirring constantly 1 cup of milk, 1/4 cup of sugar and 3 tbsp of cornstarch over a medium heat till mixture comes to a boil and thickens.
  4. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in 1 cup of white chocolate chips, 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract and 2-3 tbsp of strawberry juice concentrates till smooth.
  5. Pour pastry cream filling in a large bowl, cover surface directly with a plastic wrap (to prevent forming a skin on top of cream), and let cool at room temperature for couple of hours.
  6. Measure 1 cup of thawed whipped cream topping and set a side. Whisk cooled white chocolate mixture till smooth, and gently fold in the remaining whipped cream topping.
  7. Evenly spread half of chocolate cream on pie crust, top with 2 cups of chopped strawberries, and then spread the remaining half of cream filling on top of strawberries and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
  8. To garnish: fill pastry bag with the remaining whipped cream topping , pipe cream around edges of pie, pipe 3 by 3 grid on top of pie, neatly arrange 6 whole strawberries and 6 stripped chocolate kisses in grid squares, and for a glamorous finishing touch, brush with melted strawberry jelly.
Pastry Chef Note:
  • If you decide to join pastry schools to become a pastry chef, you'll get a chance to learn among other things the significance of artistic plating, creativity and innovation in pastry and dessert preparation. Baking and pastry schools provide pastry classes and training that teach aspiring pastry chefs how to create visually appealing pastries and desserts that make customer feast with their eyes before eating the first bite.
  • You may use more or less of strawberry juice concentrates, depending on how much intensified you prefer your pastry filling's color and taste to be.
  • If you want your cream topping to look exactly as in the picture, fit #30 star tip into your pastry bag for decorating.