Strawberry Cream Pie Day / © Denzil Green
The 28th of September is Strawberry Cream Pie Day.
There are many different types of Strawberry Cream Pie.
Some types use custard, some cream cheese, some use a version of whipped cream as the filling.
Some get the strawberry flavour from strawberry gelatin, with strawberries acting as garnishes; some get all their strawberry flavour from strawberries on the top, halved or sliced, glazed or left plain.
The pie itself can be put into a regular short-crust pie shell, or one made from Graham wafer crumbs or digestive biscuits.
The lingering question is, though, why on earth September? Perhaps it’s a ploy to promote out-of-season strawberries. Even in the southern hemisphere, the strawberry season hasn’t started yet: in Australia, it is October through May.
Clearly, many of these food days date from an era when celebrating the modern miracle of out-of-season fresh food took priority over sustainability. But you can flip this around by using some of the strawberries you preserved by freezing, canning, or dehydrating back at the start of the summer!
Oh well! Treat yourself and a friend to some of this classic summer pie — in the fall!
History
The first print mention of a “Strawberry Cream Pie Day” on the 28th of September that CooksInfo is aware of dates from 2004 in Florida:
“Today is: National Strawberry Cream Pie Day.” — Classified section. Pensacola, Florida: Pensacola News. Tuesday, 28 September 2004. Page 1E, col. 1.
The same notice appeared at the same time in other newspapers in other states, which appeared to be part of a chain of newspapers.