By Thirty-nine weeks. The last week before the due date. I am uncomfortable in every position. Sleeping is hard — I rotate between the bed, the couch, the recliner Aunt Linda had sent in mid-pregnancy specifically for this purpose. Walking is harder — the swelling in my feet has progressed and the OB recommends light stretches but no extended walks. The waiting is its own work.
Mama is on standby in Sapulpa. Dustin’s mother is on standby in Memphis. Cody has the cafe’s first three weeks of service operationally stable enough that he can drive to Tulsa on a day’s notice if the baby comes early. The whole extended-family network is poised for the call.
Sunday I made frozen strawberry lemonade pie because the apartment had strawberries and lemons and Dustin had been wanting a no-bake dessert because the apartment’s air conditioning had been struggling on warm afternoons. The frozen pie is the kind of warm-weather dessert that lives in southern grandmother cookbooks — the architecture is sweetened-condensed-milk-plus-acid-plus-flavor in a graham cracker crust, frozen until set, served cold.
The crust: a sleeve and a half of graham crackers crushed in the food processor with five tablespoons of melted butter and three tablespoons of sugar. Pressed firmly into a nine-inch pie plate. Refrigerated thirty minutes to set (no baking required for the frozen-pie format).
The filling: a pint of fresh strawberries hulled and pureéd in the food processor. One fourteen-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk. The juice of three large lemons (about two-thirds cup). The zest of one lemon. A teaspoon of vanilla. Whisked together until smooth. The acid from the lemon juice plus the strawberry pureé partially “cooks” the sweetened condensed milk into a thick custard texture without heat.
Two cups of fresh whipped cream (a cup of heavy cream whipped with a quarter-cup of powdered sugar to medium-firm peaks) folded gently into the strawberry-lemon mixture.
Pour into the prepared crust. Smooth the top. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze four hours minimum, ideally overnight.
To serve: let the pie sit at room temperature for ten minutes to soften slightly. Slice with a knife dipped in hot water. Topped with additional whipped cream and a few sliced fresh strawberries.
Dustin and I ate slices Sunday at four PM. The pie was cold and bright and exactly what the last-week-before-due needed.
No-bake. Sweetened condensed milk + lemon + strawberry. Graham crust. Frozen four hours. Here’s the build.
Frozen Strawberry Lemonade Pie
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes (includes freezing) | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust (9-inch)
- 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3–4 lemons)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping (such as Cool Whip), thawed, divided
- 2 tablespoons strawberry jam or preserves
- Pinch of salt
- Fresh strawberry slices and lemon rounds, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Blend the strawberries. Add the strawberries and strawberry jam to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. If you prefer a seedless filling, press the puree through a fine mesh strainer. Set aside.
- Mix the base. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt until fully combined. The mixture will begin to thicken slightly as the acid from the lemon juice reacts with the milk — that’s exactly what you want.
- Fold in the strawberry puree. Pour the strawberry puree into the lemon mixture and stir gently until the color is uniform and the filling is a consistent pale pink.
- Fold in the whipped topping. Reserve about 1 cup of the whipped topping for serving, then gently fold the remaining whipped topping into the strawberry-lemon mixture until just incorporated. Do not overmix — you want to keep the filling light and airy.
- Fill the crust. Pour the filling into the graham cracker crust and smooth the top with a spatula.
- Freeze. Cover the pie loosely with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours, or overnight, until firm all the way through.
- Serve. Remove the pie from the freezer 5–10 minutes before slicing to allow it to soften slightly. Top each slice with a dollop of the reserved whipped topping and garnish with fresh strawberry slices and lemon rounds if desired.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 320 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 49g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 180mg