Strawberry yogurt mascarpone pie

I love my friend Sarah. My old roommate is really one of a kind. I'm less upset now that her husband decided to marry her and take her away from me than I once was, but, I think he knows what a sacrifice I made by giving her up to him. Yes. Because it was definitely MY decision. . . .

I don't get to hang out with her as much as I want to, but I'm hoping we'll see more of each other now that the craziness of grad school is behind me. Sarah and her husband came over for dinner this past week and, since she loves cream pies with fruit in them and I happened to have a flock of strawberries waiting to be eaten, I figured I'd fix them a strawberry cream pie for dessert.

The pie itself is really easy and it's a tiny bit better for you than traditional strawberry cream pie, because you're getting protein from the yogurt. You crush vanilla wafers and mix them together with butter and a little sugar to make the crust. I baked the crust for ten minutes, just so it would slice more easily. You could get away without baking it, but your pie will be a little messy.

Wafer crumbs, minus the butter

Nicely pressed together with butter and a little sugar, then baked for 10 minutes.

While the crust baked, I washed and sliced up the strawberries and mixed the pie filling together. Just yogurt, mascarpone, vanilla bean paste, and powdered sugar. Yum!

Really delicious. The vanilla bean paste adds little flecks of vanilla bean. I'm so classy.

As the pie crust was cooling, I macerated the strawberries by sprinkling a little sugar on them. After about 10-15 minutes, the strawberries are ready to go. 

In a completely cooled crust, I poured half the yogurt mascarpone filling and spread it around. 

Then, I layered on half the strawberries.

After that comes the rest of the filling.

Then the last of the strawberries.

Pretty, eh?

I refrigerated the pie for about four hours so that it would firm up. I was really pleased with the results. It's a little better for you than a pie using heavy whipped cream and I really like the tang provided by the yogurt. I think this would also be really good with blueberries, raspberries, peaches, and maybe even ripe mangos.  Such an easy summery dessert that is beloved by all (or, at least, Sarah, Justin, and me). Try it out!

Strawberry yogurt mascarpone pie

(serves 6 to 8)

adapted from Dessert for Two

Ingredients

6 oz vanilla wafers, crushed

2 tbsp melted butter

4 tbsp sugar (2 for the crust and 2 for macerating the strawberries)

1 pint of strawberries, washed and sliced

8 oz mascarpone cheese (at room temperature)

1 cup plain yogurt (I used TJ’s “European style”—Greek works well too)

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)

½ cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Crush the wafers and dump them into the pie plate. Pour melted butter and sprinkle 2 tbsp sugar on the wafers. Mix them together by hand, pressing the wafers into the pie plate to form a crust.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Take the crust out and set it on the counter to cool completely.

In a medium-sized bowl, stir the mascarpone, yogurt, vanilla, and powdered sugar together until well-blended.

In another bowl, sprinkle a couple tablespoons of sugar over the strawberries. Let the strawberries sit and macerate for at least 10-15 minutes.

When the crust is cooled, pour half the yogurt mascarpone filling in the pie crust. Layer half the strawberries over this and then pour the rest of the pie filling over that and finish with the rest of the strawberries.

Refrigerate for a few hours to firm the pie up for easier slicing or serve as is, accepting that pie slices are overrated and scoops are of pie are really just as good.