HVT At Home: The Fruitiest, Simplest Pie You'll Never Bake

Earlier this week, I thought making scalloped potatoes sounded like a lovely idea for dinner. I quickly learned that I won't be making them again until probably late September or October. Baking something in a 400 degree oven for almost an hour heats up a house real quick -- and it's too dang hot to be baking like that!

This inspired me to make a post about the easiest, fruitiest no-bake pie I know of, which is perfect for summer. You can use fresh, local fruit, or frozen or canned, whatever is in your pantry -- make it easy on yourself! I won't be giving exact measurements; this pie is simple enough that I feel most people can get by without one.

First, open a big can of crushed pineapple. Spoon out some of the juice (maybe 3 tablespoons?) and mix it with some cornstarch (maybe a tablespoon?) in a saucepan until it's incorporated. Then add the remainder of the crushed pineapple and juices into the saucepan, stir, and let it simmer over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. (Yes, there is a little bit of cooking, but no BAKING!) You want this to thicken up a bit. Once it has thickened, set it aside.

Next, get your fruit ready. On this day, I happened to have a can of sliced peaches, a ripe banana, and some frozen blueberries and strawberries, which I thawed overnight.



I arranged the banana slices at the bottom of a pre-made graham cracker crust (I told you this would be easy) and arranged the peach slices on top.



Next came the layer of thawed berries.



And finally, the thickened crushed pineapple "sauce" covers the whole thing. Pop this in the fridge for about 3 hours to set, and enjoy. I highly recommend this as a cool breakfast. It's best to eat this pie within 2 days, but in my experience, it has kept pretty well for up to 5 (but generally doesn't last that long, if you know what I mean).