Goodbye Essential Baker — Vanilla Cream Pie with Fresh Strawberries

As I posted a few weeks back, I recently picked up Carole Bloom's "Essential Baker" from the local public library.  After I tried my first selection from the book — the Lemon Shortbread Coins — I decided that the directions were needlessly complicated and that I would give the book one more round before returning it.  My second attempt from the book was the Fresh Strawberry Tart, but it didn't take too much time for me to completely alter the recipe to make it simpler (and it still was a hit with my friends!).

 

First, I decided to change the crust to make it a pie crust instead of the tart crust that Bloom called for — I admit, the reason was not just to make the directions similar, it was also because I do not own a tart pan (something I hope to rectify soon).  I ended up using my favorite recipe that I can just whip together with my fingertips, the Gourmet cookbook standard pie crust. 

Second, I also used fewer berries for the modified pie, put a LOT less effort into the presentation of the pie (most of the work you see in the picture above is due to my friend Andrew) and I decided to omit the apricot glaze, even though I purchased apricot preserves to make the glaze.  The berries remained fresh and moist in the fridge despite omitting the glaze, though I admit that the presentation probably looked less formal than Bloom aimed for in writing her recipe.

Finally, while I decided to use Bloom's recipe for Vanilla Pastry Cream (though substituting high-quality vanilla for the vanilla bean), I found the pastry cream to be just too heavy.  The recipe uses 3 egg yolks and a cup of milk, and I think I prefer recipes that use whole eggs instead of just yolks to cut the heaviness of the resulting cream. 

Despite these changes and concerns though, everyone who tried the pie seemed to really like it — though I admit, small portions were definitely necessary given the richness of the pastry cream!  And yes, after making this recipe, I did return the "Essential Baker" back to the library and don't think that I'll either purchase the book or check it out again.