This phyllo pie is a variation on the apricot one I made a bit ago, this one featuring flaky homemade phyllo, Strawberry Inspiration coating, soy milk custard, strawberry gelee, and glazed strawberries on top. I have really fallen in love with the flaky phyllo fruit pies, because the filling is so interchangeable, as is the fruit being featured. I love that this is the kind of dessert where you can switch out those components depending on seasonality, and fall in love with it all over again. I am already imagining doing another version of this pie, but with pastry cream, caramel, dulcey(blonde chocolate or caramelized white chocolate), and apples, and possibly a maple-pumpkin-Almond Inspiration one for the fall. The components are fun and simple – flaky, buttery phyllo dough that is brushed with chocolate so that the dough stays crispy, a creamy, custard-y filling, and some sort of fruit component that will add acidity, freshness, and contrast the richness of the other components. In the case for this recipe, I landed on soy milk and strawberries. This recipe was made for my friend Sylvie’s birthday, as she loves strawberries and pie. I had made a strawberry-rhubarb pie for her a year ago, and while that was a hit, and I wanted to do a different take on a strawberry pie, going with something lighter that could be served cold, since her birthday is during the summer and a warm dessert, while comforting, could be a little harder to stomach in 90+ degree F weather. So I went with this pie instead!

For the components, we have the homemade phyllo dough, which is brushed with Strawberry Inspiration, a soy bean milk custard, strawberry gelee, and strawberry gelee-glazed fresh strawberries. In terms of difficulty, I would give this dessert maybe a 6 or 7 out of 10. The hardest parts for sure are moderating the temperatures of everything, and making the phyllo dough. The dough itself requires a lot of elbow grease and time, since you are rolling out each layer as thin as you can get them. Even then, baking the phyllo is also quite time-consuming, take a full 30 minutes to get golden-brown and flaky. The crust, after it cools down, is then brushed with melted Strawberry Inspiration, and chucked into the freezer to firm up. With the fillings, strawberry gelee is actually really easy to make, as long as you have a blender. The soy bean custard, please use actual soy bean milk and not like Silk soy milk from a carton. I’m not trying to bag on Silk(I actually drink their almond milk all the time and use their products in my vegan baking quite often), but the flavor of those kinds of soy milk is not quite the same as Chinese or Japanese soy bean milk, which is sweeter and creamier, and just does more justice to the filling here. Since the custard is being made with no eggs, as it is thickened with just cornstarch and set with agar, this custard filling is actually a lot easier to make than your usual pastry cream. Just be sure to pass it through a sieve if anything else fails, just to remove any lumps! I am glazing the strawberries with that same strawberry gelee just to keep them from drying out, and just to impart even more strawberry flavor into the fruit itself. All in all, this pie continues to be a favorite of mine, and I can’t wait to try my hand at a fall variation of it!

For the phyllo dough:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
4 tbsp cold water
4 tbsp unsalted butter, browned

In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, and water together until a soft dough is formed. Split the dough into 9 balls and roll each ball into a 5-inch disk. Brush the top side of 8 of the disks with the brown butter. Stack the disks so that the top layer is unbrushed with brown butter. Roll the dough stack to be roughly 12 inches in diameter and transfer the dough into a lightly brown butter-lined 9-inch pan. Prick the bottom of the dough, and place down on top of the dough and sheet of parchment and baking weights. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes. Halfway through baking, remove the weights. Let the pie shell cool down before removing from the pan.

For initial assembly:
3oz Strawberry Inspiration

In a bowl over a double boiler, melt 2.5oz of the Strawberry Inspiration completely. Take the bowl off heat and stir in the remaining Strawberry Inspiration until that is completely melted in too. Spread the melted Strawberry Inspiration on the inside of the baked phyllo tart shell then transfer it to the freezer to firm up, 5-10 minutes in the freezer.

For the strawberry gelee filling:
4oz fresh strawberries, hulled and diced
1 tbsp granulated sugar
A pinch of salt
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp agar

In a blender, puree everything together until smooth and combined. Pour the liquid into a pot and stir on medium-high heat until the liquid comes up to a simmer. Let the liquid simmer for 2 minutes before taking the pot off heat and allowing the strawberry gelee base to cool down completely. Puree the gelee until smooth and spreadable, right before swirling a portion of it with the soybean milk custard.

For the soybean milk custard:
1 1/2 cups soy bean milk
3 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp agar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a pot, whisk together the soybean milk, cornstarch, agar, sugar, and salt until lump-free. Transfer the pot to the stove and cook on medium-high heat, whisking the liquid for 4-5 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and clings to the whisk. Pass the thickened soybean milk through a sieve to remove any lumps. Allow the soybean milk to cool down completely before spreading the mixture into the Strawberry Inspiration-lined phyllo pastry. Swirl 3/4 of the gelee mixture through the mousse. Transfer the mousse-filled tart shell into the refrigerator, allowing everything to firm up for 2 hours before attempting to serve.

For garnish:
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
Reserved strawberry gelee

Toss the berries in the gelee and arrange onto the set phyllo pie.