Viernes Social - Rumberry Pie

Warm weather turns me into a zombie. I am compelled to go to the grocery store, purchase strawberries, and make this pie.  Then I pretty much eat it in one sitting.  It's super easy to make. It's also fresh and light and perfect for a hot day.

The ingredients are:

2 pounds of strawberries, chopped
1 graham cracker crust, low-fat
1/4 cup of strawberry jam
1 tablespoon of rum (spiced rum is best)
whipped cream

That's it! I added a handful of blueberries to the pie to give it a red, white and blue look. It's Memorial Day Weekend after all.

First, bake the crust at 350 degrees for 5 minutes or until golden brown. You can probably skip this step, but I loooove the smell of the crust as it bakes. I like the low-fat crust; it keeps the pie light.

Let the crust cool. Chop up the strawberries. Fill the crust with the strawberries. You want the crust to be very full, because the berries shrink a bit as the pie cools.

Sprinkle with blueberries for a patriotic look. I tried making the pie with raspberries once, but they just got mushy.

Put the strawberry jam in the microwave. Nuke for 30 seconds or until it's runny. Add the rum and stir. Spiced rum is the best rum for this recipe. If you don't like rum, orange liqueur is also good. I like rum the best, though. The sweetness of the rum balances the sharpness of the berries.

Pour the strawberry/rum mixture over the berries. Make it as even as possible.

Put the pie in the fridge to cool. This takes at least 2 hours.

Serve with whipped cream. I prefer the store-bought, fat-free whipped cream. Homemade whipped cream or full-fat whipped cream is too heavy for this dish.

The crust crumbles when served so I always serve it in bowls. It looks super pretty in transparent glass bowls or parfait glasses. You can garnish with mint.

I love this pie so much I wrote this post so I could have an excuse to make it.

Buen Provecho!

Update (6/29/2012): I ran out of rum and tried making this with orange liqueur. Big mistake!