Roasted strawberries and cream pie

26 Apr 2016

Got a sweet tooth? The roasted strawberries in this pie soften to a delicious jammy summer berry syrup and the thyme gives the dish a wonderful earthy flavour. Enjoy.

Ingredients

SERVES 8

435 g sweet shortcrust rolled to a thickness of 3 mm

750 g strawberries, hulled (halve the very large ones)

1 vanilla bean, split lengthways and seeds scraped

2 tbsps maple syrup

1 thyme sprig, plus extra to decorate

500 g mascarpone cheese

375 ml thickened whipping cream

4 tbsps pure icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line the base and side of a 22 cm × 5 cm deep pie dish with the pastry and trim away the excess. Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with baking beads (or uncooked rice or dried beans). Place on a baking tray and cook for 20 minutes or until golden, then remove the baking beads and paper, and cook for a further five minutes or until the base is dry to the touch. Set aside and leave to cool completely. Keep the oven on.

Toss together the strawberries, vanilla pod and seeds, maple syrup and thyme on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and roast for 16 minutes or until softened and slightly syrupy. Cool to room temperature.

Whisk the mascarpone, cream, icing sugar and vanilla bean paste together in a bowl until thick. Spread into the cooled pie crust and top with the roasted strawberries and their syrup.