The Vegan Kids Kitchen: Vegan Strawberry Pie!!!

Every time I eat this dish I go into a state of pure happiness, it's just that amazingly good!! The best part?!?, This recipe does not include going to buy that mystery pink strawberry gel/glaze stuff in the bag from the grocery store. Do they even still sell that stuff, I used to love to squish it when I was a kid, lol!! But why would you want to ruin the strawberries like that! I promise that it will take about as much effort or less to make your own homemade glaze, really!! It's so simple and the homemade glaze kicks the butt of that kind of pie and any other store made version. Trust me!!
This was one of those pregnancy cravings for me, when I was pregnant with my first we hadn't gone vegan yet and my hubby had to run to Frisch's Big Boy late night a couple of times;). If you are not from here, Frisch's is a restaurant in the midwest known for it's not so "healthy" dishes. I knew it was so bad for me so I thought once I went vegan, I couldn't have them anymore:( That is until one Sunday night at my parents...
My sister in law(love ya Teppi) made these tiny strawberry pie bites and she had made her own glaze, that was when it clicked, I could make my own Vegan Glaze!!! Most of the store made glazes use some type of gelatin or cream, but there is no need, once you add the cornstarch it helps it thicken right up! I have made this for two NEW mamas and one said "yes, I admit, I had it for breakfast'", and the other said "I had it at 4 am, it was that good!" LOL. I just love when my food has that effect ;). You have been warned, haha;)) I also bought the pie crust from whole foods, you could totally make, but I am a realist and the little time I have I don't want to be trying to perfect a crust, this pie is all about the filling!!! This recipe is adapted from The Brown Eyed Baker blog, I just left out a couple of ingredients to make it VEGANIZED!!!

Vegan Strawberry Pie

1 prepared pie crust pre-baked and cooled (the spelt flour one from WF is super good!!!)

For the filling:
3 lbs. Strawberries (Rinsed and hulled a.k.a. green stems removed)
1/2 cup Vegan Cane Sugar
4-6 TBSP. Water
2 TBSP Cornstarch
2 tsp. Lemon Juice

Go through the strawberries and pick out the "unpretty" ones to use for your filling, you will need about 1 1/2 cups of strawberries. Put them in the food processor and process until you have a puree. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch over medium heat and add in the puree. Continue to whisk until you bring the filling to a low boil, at this point I add in a little water, and let the filling continue to cook. You want to make sure that you let the cornstarch to cook out, you can taste it to make sure it doesn't have a chalky taste, that is why I add the extra water. I just add in a tablespoon at a time to make sure it's not too much liquid. As soon as it has thickened and the cornstarch is cooked out, then remove from heat and add in the lemon juice. Let it cool to room temperature.

Keeping the remaining strawberries whole, toss them in the sauce and put into pie shell. Refrigerate at least 3 hours, and then Enjoy!!!!