Strawberry Pie (aka Shoney’s) It’s a Beautiful Pie in the Neighborhood

If you are of a certain age, and from the south, and ever went out for a bite to eat after the prom or a movie date in high school then you know exactly what this is. You guessed it – the famous Shoney’s Strawberry Pie! My son was driving by the Shoney’s on White Bridge Road and asked if I’d ever been to one. I had to laugh, Shoney’s was the best part of so many high school events. When he learned that strawberry pie and onion rings were considered the go-to order his only comment was – “gross”. While maybe that combination isn’t awe inspiring, the pie certainly is so I decided to make one and prove my point. My sister gave me a cookbook from Auburn published in the 90’s which was chock full of recipes for strawberry pies. A few Junior League cookbooks had recipes as well and without further research those provided enough options to create something great.

In full disclosure, it took a couple of experiments to get it right. The first attempt created little cornstarch and powdered sugar dumplings in the sauce – unappealing to everyone but my husband who ate the whole mess directly from the pan.

Once the sauce was perfected, the crust proved problematic. The store-bought kind that you unroll and put in a pie pan was not thick enough to handle the filling.  Maybe a purchased crust in an aluminum foil pan would have worked, but for heaven’s sake a pie crust is easy enough to make – butter, flour, salt, and water in the food processor and voila! (Recipe below). The filling that provided the best results combined sugar, water, cornstarch, and gelatin plus lots of delicious fresh strawberries. Real whipped cream upped the ante but we are no strangers to Redi-Whip. Honestly this pie was a breeze to make once I figured it out. My son and his friends were just charmed and thought it was delicious. We passed on including onion rings, but the pie was good enough to generate encore requests. Whether you buy a pre-made crust or make your own you have to give this a try. Isn’t it so pretty? Enjoy!

Sallie’s Shoney’s Strawberry Pie

1 lb box fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced in half

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

3 Tbsp cornstarch

3 Tbsp strawberry gelatin

Pie crust purchased or homemade (recipe follows)

Whipped cream or Redi-whip for serving (not a fan of Cool Whip)

Directions

Bake crust according to directions and cool.

For filling: combine water sugar and corn starch in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.

Add gelatin and stir to dissolve.

Cool filling and place strawberries in pie crust.

Pour filling over the strawberries and chill until firm.

Top with whipped cream.

Pie Crust

1¼ cups flour

½ tsp salt

½ cup (1 stick) cold butter

¼ cup cold water

Optional: 1 Tbsp vodka – a trick to make the crust flaky

Cut butter into tablespoon size pieces.

Put flour and salt in the food processor and give it 3 or 4 quick pulses to combine.

Add butter and give it 5 or 6 quick pulses to form a crumbly mixture.

Add the water about a few tablespoons at a time pulsing after each addition.

Stop adding water when ingredients come together.

Remove mixture from processor and form in a ball.

Wrap in plastic wrap or put in a large baggie and flatten to a disk.

Refrigerate for an hour before using.

Roll out crust and place in a pie pan.

Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork to allow steam to escape.

Bake in a 375 degree oven until lightly brown about 15 – 20 minutes.