The Easiest No-Bake Fruit Pie
Desserts and sweets are my weakness. The incredible variety on offer is almost overwhelming and if I had one crazy wish that I could make come true, I'd probably choose to sleep on a bed full of cookies, cakes and pies.
So it's only natural that I like to bake desserts such as cakes and cookies. However when it came to pies, it was a different story. It always seemed so much more complicated with all the steps involved - from baking the crust, making the filling and then filling in the pie, to sometimes baking it one more time before I get to actually eat it. The few times I've made pies, I relied on store-bought pie crusts, which can sometimes be mediocre in both taste and texture.
With the help of the internet, I found a few pie recipes that didn't require an oven or a pack of instant pudding mix. With nothing standing in my way of making a pie, I rushed to the supermarket to buy the necessary ingredients.
I made do with what I had in the kitchen. I washed my strawberries and grapes and set them aside (strawberry season in Japan is between December and February ). The crust was unbelievably easy to make and required almost no special skills other than crushing a box of crackers in a ziploc bag. The filling was even easier to make. Everything about the pie was easy and it tasted absolutely amazing.
This recipe is so fail-proof that I have no additional tips to add, except to use the sweetest fruits you can find. You can use a single fruit or a combination of your favorites. I like using fruits that are in season as they usually taste the best.
These no-bake pies are perfect for those without an oven. It's also a great recipe for summer when slaving over a hot oven is usually the last thing anyone wants to do.
*Photo taken by myself
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 2 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers or plain biscuits
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- Fillling:
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup strawberries cut into halves
- 3/4 cup grapes seeded and cut into halves
- 1/4 cup strawberry preserves
Instructions
- To make the crust, put crackers or cookies into a ziploc bag and crush until the texture is fine.
- Put the crushed mixture into a bowl. Mix in the melted butter and combine with hands until moist.
- Press the mixture onto a pie pan to make a crust.
- Put the crust into the refrigerator for at least an hour.
- To make the filling, whip the cream until stiff peaks form.
- In a separate bowl, cream the softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
- Carefully fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until combined.
- In a small bowl, heat the strawberry preserves in a microwave for 30 seconds.
- In a large bowl, mix the strawberries, grapes and strawberry preserves together to combine.
- Take the pie crust out of the refrigerator.
- Carefully add in the cream cheese mixture into the crust.
- Next, layer the fruit mixture on top.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.
