After a beautiful and warm week, this Sunday was slightly cooler and overcast – the perfect day to stay home, do some housework, and of course bake.  Earlier in the week I had stumbled upon a recipe for Chantilly pie, something I never heard of before. Evidently, chantilly is a light, frozen pie typically with a fruit and cream base.  For the first time this season, my local supermarket had fresh strawberries on sale and I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to try the new chantilly recipe.  It was great and something I will definitely keep in mind for warm summer days.  I see no reason why you couldn’t substitute strawberries with any other favorite fresh berry of your choice. Enjoy!

Strawberry Chantilly
Adapted from Coleen’s Recipes 

For the Crust:
1 c all purpose flour
¼ c brown sugar
½ c unsalted butter, cold
½ c chopped pecans

For the Filling:
2 egg whites
1 c granulated sugar
2 c fresh strawberries
1 t lemon juice
2 drops red food coloring, optional
1 c heavy whipping cream

• Preheat oven to 325.
• With a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the cold butter into the flour and sugar until crumbly.  Stir in the chopped pecans.
• Press mixture into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a springform pan and bake at 325 for 28 minutes. Cool completely.
• Pulse the strawberries in a food processor until mostly pureed but some lumps remain.
• Place the pureed strawberries, egg whites, sugar, and lemon juice in a bowl of your electric stand mixer. Beat on high for ten minutes. (Use a large bowl, it expands a lot.)  Add food coloring, if desired, and mix for a few more seconds until the color is fully incorporated.
• In a separate bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream into stiff peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into the strawberry mixture.
• Pour the filling into the baked and cooled crust.  Cover well and freeze for at least 6 hours.
• Slice with a hot knife and serve with additional strawberries, if desired.

Serves: 10
Calories: 442