Though I could never blindly declare that all our nation’s woes were suddenly absolved, I will say this: It’s been an ok week to be an American. Last Friday’s gay marriage ruling was a massive victory for so many I love. Though I’m not affected by it directly, I feel one step closer to a nation that truly acts on its supposed belief in equality.
Growing up in Hawaii, I’ve long been awake to the weight of privilege. I was a foreigner in a land that white people once attacked and colonized, a land that still caters to white privilege as much as it disdains it. I grew up feeling, for lack of a better word, other. With my red-hair and white skin, I didn’t stand a chance at fitting in. I was mocked for my appearance, and learned that being made to feel different felt, well, awful.
At the same time, though, I also learned a humility and understanding of my place in the world much different than if I had grown up on the mainland. Even still, my experience as a minority is nothing like that of people of color around the world, or those who experience minority status in other ways. More than anything, I simply learned the grossness of privilege, and how to acknowledge and discuss it in ways that were productive, rather than destructive.
Afforded the privileges I was when I was born, I cannot know what it feels like today for my queer friends to live fully those freedoms now accorded to so many human beings once denied. I imagine it’s like breathing, like that first sweet gulp of oxygen after rising from the water’s surface.
On this week of our nation’s freedom, I take that big breath with you, standing proudly in the brilliance and nationally sanctioned celebration of your love.
Yes you. I love you. Love wins.
Speaking of love winning, this pie is my version of love and freedom personified in creamy, cream cheesey, luscious berry, graham cracker-crust-y form. It’s inspired by a strawberry cream pie made with cream cheese and Kula strawberries on my home island, at a lovely restaurant called Monkeypod Kitchen. Between that cream pie, the truffle fries, and a coconut and Thai basil cocktail served in a tiki glass, you’ll go home VERY happy.
But I digress. This pie is everything you need to feel free, to feel alive, and to keep up with the f*cking Jones’s and all their red, white and blue 4th of July paraphernalia. Oh, and did I mention it’s sweetened only with honey and a touch of brown sugar in the crust? You’re welcome.
Get free. Get cream (cheese) pied.
4TH OF JULY DOUBLE BERRY CREAM PIE!
Ingredients
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream divided
- 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon ground vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons honey divided
- 1 cup strawberries
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 ½ packages graham crackers
- 9 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375º.
- Over low heat, melt butter.
- Crush graham crackers in a food processor or blender until they have a sandy texture. Don’t over-blend into a flour. Pour into large bowl. Add butter and pinch of sea salt, and mix until you have a wet sand-like blend.
- Press mixture evenly into bottom and sides of 9" pie pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and let cool completely on a rack.
- Using electric mixer, whip cream cheese, lemon juice, almond extract, vanilla, and ½ cup of honey until completely smooth (about 5 minutes). Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whip 1 cup heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Set aside.
- Using a fork, mortar and pestle, or other macerating device, crush strawberries with 1 tablespoon of honey. Set aside.
- Whip the second cup of whipping cream with 1 tablespoon of honey until soft peaks form.
- Once pie crust is completely cool, spread the whipped cream cheese mixture into the bottom of the pan.
- In a clean bowl, mix a little over half of the honey whipped cream with a half cup or more of crushed strawberries, as you like. Spread this evenly over the top of the whipped cream cheese.
- Scoop the rest of the honey whipped cream onto the center of the strawberry whipped cream and make another, smaller circle. Swirl in more of the macerated strawberries.
- Arrange blueberries in rows atop this layer. Chill at least two hours. Slice and serve with extra fresh fruit and macerated strawberries, as you like.
