This is another heirloom recipe from my mom’s recipe box, similar to the Fruit Jello Pie of my grandmother Loretta’s, which I’ve made previously. This one may or may not be another variation on the same them, maybe from Loretta again (the handwriting looks familiar), but uncredited.

Oddly enough, the recipe index card seems to imply that the writer is passing along a recipe from someone else. It’s on a yellowed piece of stationery with browned grease stains, so this looks like it’s seen battle. Here is the note, with the quotation marks as they were on the card:

“She said for the strawberry one she put the strawberries in the pie shell, then the syrup poured over them after it had cooled a bit. For the cherry one just mixed it and then in the shell”

“She thought this was a lot better than the glaze you buy and it is real good.”

Maybe the cherry version was make by mixing the fruit in the syrup before pouring? It’s not clear. What is clear is that this is a tasty, easy pie to make in the summer when you want something cold and sweet, yet light and refreshing.

This version has twice the corn starch of the other recipe, yielding a thicker glaze. I made this version with strawberry jello and a mix of strawberries, a kiwi, and a peach that needed to be used up. You could probably use this as a template for any glazed fruit pie.

1 c. sugar
4 tbs. corn starch
1 1/4 c. water
1 package jello (strawberry, cherry, or whatever goes)
Fruit (strawberries or whatever you choose)
Pre-baked pie crust

Bake your pie crust. I personally like a Graham Cracker Crust and it holds up well to the amount of liquid this will generate.

Add fruit to the baked crust.

Heat the sugar, corn starch, and water in a saucepan and cook until it’s as thick as you want it. Put in the package of dry jello. Mix and pour it into the pie shell.

Chill the pie in the refrigerator until ready to serve. It won’t need as much time for the jello to set as if you were following the jello recipe on the box, so it might be ready in an hour or so.