Improv Challenge: No Bake Fresh Strawberry Pie

It's time again for the Improv Challenge.  The premise of this challenge is easy: each month there are two assigned ingredients.  The participants must make a recipe using both ingredients and blog about it.

This month the ingredients were strawberries and cream.  I didn't waste any time trying to come up with a savory recipe using strawberries and cream, because I saw this recipe for No-Bake Fresh Strawberry Pie in last month's Cooking Light and just HAD to try it.  And since cream cheese counted as a "cream" ingredient, I was good to go!  (As you can see, I did serve it with whipped cream on top too, for good measure!)

No Bake Fresh Strawberry Pie


Ingredients:
1 (6 oz.) Chocolate Graham Ready Crust
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
¾ tsp vanilla extract
2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 tbsp seedless strawberry fruit spread
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 lb. fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
Whipped cream, optional


Directions:
Unwrap ready-made pie crust and set aside.


Place cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl; beat until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Carefully spread over bottom of crust. Place fruit spread in a large microwave-safe bowl; microwave at HIGH 10 seconds or until softened. Add lemon juice; stir with a whisk until smooth. Add berries; toss to combine. Arrange berries over pie. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.


Serve with whipped cream on top, if desired.


Makes 8 servings.

The original recipe called for making a chocolate crust from scratch, but I simplified things by using a store-bought one.  I'm sure the homemade one would taste better, but it wasn't worth the extra effort to me.  It also called for Chambord, a raspberry-flavored liqueur, but I wasn't about to buy a whole bottle of that stuff to use 1 tbsp of it.  I just increased the lemon juice a tad.

Look at all those beautiful berries!

Piled high!

This pie was so incredibly easy; I think I had it put together in 15 minutes or less.  And it is so good.  The combination of the tart berries and the sweet, creamy filling is amazing.  Next time I will make some chocolate sauce to drizzle over the top.  Because there most definitely WILL BE a next time!

Shared at:

• Thursdays Treasures at Recipes For My Boys
• Showcase Your Talent Thursday at What's Cooking, Love?
• Sweets for A Saturday at Sweet As Sugar Cookies
• Seasonal Inspiration at Crumbs and Chaos