Don Maurer, manager of Hess’s Patio Restaurant for nine years, produced one of two pies deemed by judges to be most like their memories of the famous pie. It’s the simplest recipe of all because it is “built” using a pre-baked ready-made pie crust and canned strawberry glaze. The only thing you make is the sweetened whipped cream that tops the pie.
The recipe for Hess’s Strawberry Tart, supplied by the Lehigh County Historical Society, tied with Maurer’s pie for top honors. It requires making strawberry glaze from scratch and it’s short on details like how many strawberries and how much whipping cream you’ll need. If you want to try this, I’d suggest following the recipe for the glaze and using Maurer’s recipe for the remaining measurements and procedures.
Maurer confides, “Although the pie dough at Hess’s was made from scratch, the Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts come very close to the taste.”
He adds, “We used Frosty Acres canned strawberry glaze at The Patio, and I used Lucky Leaf canned glaze for the ones I made for The Morning Call’s pie tasting. But ready-made strawberry glazes available in supermarkets are fine, too.”
The Patio’s bakers added a commercial whipped cream stabilizer to the sweetened whipped cream that topped the pies, according to Maurer.
To stabilize your whipped cream, pick up packets of Dr. Oetker Whip It, available at Wegmans and others. At Wegmans, it’s on a shelf near the puddings and gelatins.
Maurer notes: “The real keys to making a Patio strawberry pie are: Using the biggest berries (like Driscoll’s) you can find and keeping them whole (making the smallest cuts possible to remove leaves so the strawberries don’t become watery and affect the glaze. Tightly packing the berries into the pie shell so they’ll stay in place when the pie is cut.”
About the recipe from the Lehigh County Historical Society: I had to add more cornstarch thickening than the recipe called for and could have used twice as much glaze as the recipe yielded. I also added two teaspoons of McCormick’s Strawberry Extract to the glaze because it didn’t seem all that fruity.
We offer the recipes for the remaining pies at themorningcall.com because they’re different and may very well represent other time periods when Hess’s bakers modified the pie to their tastes.
Incidentally, if you don’t want to go to the trouble of making a pie, Ginny Andrashko occasionally makes her version at Louie’s Restaurant in Allentown.
DON MAURER’S HESS’S STRAWBERRY PIE
1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust, pricked and baked in 9-inch pan
4 to 5 lbs. strawberries, rinsed, patted dry and hulled
Additional extra-large berries, preferably stem-on, dipped in glaze, for garnish
2 cups or more, prepared strawberry glaze (Don uses Lucky Leaf or Frosty Acres strawberry glazes in commercial-sized #10 cans. But you can use any good prepared strawberry glaze from a supermarket.)
1 qt. heavy whipping cream
Powdered sugar to taste, about 1/2 lb.
2 packets Dr. Oetker Whip It whipped cream stabilizer
Bake pie crust according to package directions, pricking the crust before baking and using some pie weights to prevent it from puffing up. Let cool.
Wash strawberries and drain thoroughly. Hull each one carefully, making only the smallest cut possible to remove leaves.
Spoon a 3/4- to-1-inch layer of glaze in bottom of cooled pie crust. With gloved hands, pack in the first layer of berries as tightly as you can. Spoon another layer of glaze over the berries, pushing glaze into all spaces between berries.
Tightly pack another layer of berries on top, adding more glaze and pushing it into open spaces between berries. Pack a final layer of berries on top and spoon glaze over top, filling all visible holes. Refrigerate.
A few hours before serving time, pour chilled whipping cream into chilled mixer bowl. Add powdered sugar and stabilizer to the cream and then begin whipping it with a chilled beater on medium speed until it is starting to peak. Then, turn the mixer to high and whip for about a minute more or until the whipped cream is stiff. Be careful not to overbeat the whipped cream or you’ll end up with butter! You’ll have more whipped cream than you need, but the extra can be used for a practice run with the pastry bag and decorating tip.
Place a star tip in your pastry bag and fill it with whipped cream. Twist it closed and then pipe the whipped cream onto the pie. Refrigerate. Just before serving, garnish with extra large berries that hav e been dipped in the strawberry glaze.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY’S HESS’S STRAWBERRY TART
1 9-inch baked pie shell
Fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
Glaze
Whipped cream
For the glaze:
3 cups strawberries, crushed and strained through a ricer and then through a fine sieve
1 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
A little red food coloring
11/2 Tbsps. cornstarch, thinned with an equal amount of cold water
Wash and hull berries.
To make the glaze, crush 3 cups berries, strain through a ricer and then through a fine sieve. Add water, sugar and lemon juice and a little red coloring. Cook to boiling point and then thicken with cornstarch thinned with water, stirring continuously as you add it to the mixture. Let cool until at room temperature or just a little warmer.
Line shell with berries, cover with glaze and cool until serving time. Serve with whipped cream.
