Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

Fresh strawberry cream cheese pie is a delicious spring dessert to make with the season’s freshest berries. With a layer of cream cheese filling, and a homemade strawberry pie glaze, this impressive-looking dessert is ideal for any spring or summer gathering. (This recipe was first published on April 15th, 2014)

Strawberry cream cheese pie from the 50s

This recipe for fresh strawberry pie comes from the book Thoughts for Buffets, which was published in 1958. Intended for the “woman who is both home-maker and hostess,” it was given to my mom in the early 60’s by my aunt, and signified a time when America was changing both culturally and gastronomically. The book is dog-earred where Mom has turned down pages, and the pages are stained and grease-spattered. 

One of the best strawberry pie recipes, it has withstood the test of time and seems just as fresh and current today as it must have 50 years ago.

Ingredients for Strawberry Glaze Pie 

To start, you’ll need a pie crust. You can buy one or make your own with this recipe for one minute pie dough. I used half 1/2 of the recipe, and added one teaspoon of sugar.  Pre-bake the pie shell using pie weights. 

If you’re planning on baking more, you could make the full pie dough recipe and use the leftover dough for these mini Jam Tarts. 

You’ll need 2 full pounds of fresh strawberries. Frozen won’t do! Some will be used for the glaze, some for the top, and some will be sliced.

The filling is made with 8 ounces of cream cheese and 5 Tablespoons of sour cream, which is a delicious counterpoint to the sweet berries and glaze. There is no additional sugar in the filling, so it’s not overly sweet. You’ll also need sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice for the strawberry glaze recipe.

Since this is a recipe from the 50s, I decided to decorate my edges with circles, which have kind of a vintage flair. You can use pretty pie cutters, or just the bottom of a piping tip.

Strawberry glaze recipe

The star of this pie is the strawberry glaze!  Unlike store-bought glazes, this strawberry glaze does not contain artificial coloring, flavoring or high fructose corn syrup. It’s simple berries, sugar and water. You can even substitute the sugar for Swerve if you’re watching your sugar intake.

To make the strawberry glaze, you’ll need:

• 3/4 cup cold water
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 cup chopped strawberries

Place the berries in a saucepan with water and simmer over a medium-low heat for 5 minutes.

Combine the sugar and cornstarch and add it to the cooked fruit. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes until the syrup is thick, glossy and red. Remove from the heat, then add the lemon juice and cool for about 10 minutes.

How to finish strawberry cream cheese pie

Now that your glaze is done, the rest of the pie is super easy to assemble. 

Spread the cream cheese filling over the bottom of the pre-baked pie crust. I use a glass pie dish.

Then slice about 1 cup of the berries and place them over the filling.

Next, top the filling with the remaining whole, hulled strawberries.

Finally, pour, brush or spoon the glaze over the berries. These pastry brushes are my favorite.

Chill the pie for at least one hour. You’ll get prettier looking slices the longer it chills.

Should glazed strawberry pie be refrigerated? Yes! This pie contains cream cheese and sour cream, so chill before serving and keep in the fridge after serving.

I hope you enjoy this old fashioned strawberry cream cheese pie!

Looking for more strawberry recipes? Try my Strawberry Fool or Eton Mess.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

Cynthia

This fresh strawberry pie is adapted from "Thoughts for Buffets", which was published in 1958. It was originally called "Strawberry Pie Glace".

5 from 63 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

chill 1 hour hr

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Calories 353 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Cream Cheese Filling

• 8 ounces cream cheese softened
• 5 Tablespoons sour cream

Strawberry Glaze

• 3/4 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 cup chopped strawberries (from the 2 pounds below)

Finishing the strawberry pie

• 1 pre-baked 9″ pie crust either homemade or store-bought
• 2 pounds fresh strawberries washed, hulled and divided (some are for the filling, some for the glaze)

Instructions

 

• Pre-bake a pie shell until golden brown. Cool.
• Meanwhile Beat together the cream cheese and sour cream together in a mixer.
• Spread over the baked pie shell.
• Wash and hull strawberries. Reserve one berries pound for the top, 1 cup for the glaze, and 1 cup sliced to put on top of the filling.

Glaze

• Chop a few berries to measure 1 cup. Place in a saucepan with water and simmer over a medium low heat for 5 minutes.
• Combine sugar and cornstarch. Add cornstarch and sugar mixture to cooked fruit continue cooking, stirring constantly, until syrup is thick and clear, about 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and cool about 10 minutes.

Finishing the pie

• Spread cream cheese mixture over cooled pie shell.
• Arrange 1 cup sliced berries on the cream cheese mixture.
• Arrange remaining whole berries over the top of the sliced berries.
• Spoon cooked strawberry syrup over fresh berries.
• Chill 1 hour or longer.

Notes

• Use fresh berries for this pie.
• The pie shell can be baked up to a day ahead of time. Wrap well and do not refrigerate.
• Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 353kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 4gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 187mgPotassium: 245mgFiber: 3gSugar: 32gVitamin A: 441IUVitamin C: 67mgCalcium: 59mgIron: 1mg

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