Strawberry Lemon Buttermilk Icebox Pie

// Recipe from Southern Living //

Crumb Crust

1 1/2 cups crushed vanilla wafers

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt

6 tbsp. butter, melted

vegetable cooking spray

Preheat oven to 325.  Process crushed wafers, sugar and salt in a food processor until finely crushed and well combined.  Add melted butter, and process until thoroughly combined.  Press on bottom, up sides, and onto lip of a lightly greased (with cooking spray) 9-inch regular pie plate (or deep dish pie plate).  Bake crust 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Strawberry-Lemon-Buttermilk Icebox Pie

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 tbsp. loosely packed lemon zest

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

3 large egg yolks

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup strawberry jam

3 tbsp. strawberry jam

16 oz. fresh sliced strawberries

vegetable cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 325.  Whisk together first 3 ingredients in a bowl.

2. Beat egg yolks with a handheld mixer in a medium bowl at high speed 4 to 5 minutes or until yolks become pale and ribbons form on surface of mixture when beater is lifted.  Gradually whisk in sweetened condensed milk mixture, and whisk until thoroughly combined.  Whisk in buttermilk.  Whisk in 1/2 cup strawberry jam.  Pour mixture into prepared crust.

3. Bake at 325 for 20 to 25 minutes or until set around edges.  (Pie will be slightly jiggly.)  Cool on a wire rack 1 hour.  Cover pie with lightly greased (with cooking spray) plastic wrap, and freeze 4 to 6 hours.

4. Microwave 3 tbsp. strawberry jam in a medium size microwave safe bowl at high for 20 seconds.  Stir 16 oz. fresh strawberries into jam.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

Beat 2 cups heavy cream and 1 tsp. vanilla extract at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until foamy; gradually add 1/4 cup powdered sugar, beating until soft peaks form.

Top pie with strawberry mixture and whipped cream just before serving.

// This pie is ah-mazing.  It's not the easiest thing to make, but definitely worth all the time and effort.  I have subscribed to Southern Living ever since I had an address of my own.  Growing up I remember my mother having (and still has) a subscription to Southern Living- and how she would slowly savor every page, soaking in all the articles about the "best of the south" and the recipes each issue included.  I now find myself doing the same, and after going strawberry picking this weekend I didn't find it a coincidence that the June issue which had just come in the mail included a strawberry pie recipe.   It was as if this pie was calling my name and I HAD to bake it.  It did not disappoint and we (Chloe and I) were even more excited to make an extra one for a friend.

I experimented and changed a few variations of the basic lemon buttermilk icebox pie to include a vanilla wafer crust and sweet strawberries in the filling.  A fresh strawberry glaze and homemade whipped cream topped it all off! //