Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I have a very serious question for you – Is there anything more perfect in this world than a classic golden crust fruit pie? …

Is the answer to this question as obvious to you as it is to me? I mean honestly I don’t think I can think of anything that is more scrumptious than a ooey, gooey, sweet & tart pie filling that has been baked to absolute perfection encased by a thick, flaky, buttery, golden brown crust – seriously… I got nothing. Especially when you eat your slice of pie with a hearty scoop of vanilla ice cream…. I mean you just can’t get any more perfect than that…. you just can’t.

For heavens sake, even before I put this pie in the oven, it was a thing of beauty and before it was baked to ooey gooey fruity, flaky, buttery perfection, I just had to snap a shot. Once I had assembled the lattice top, I was about ready to just dive in and eat the raw pie dough and fruit filling right then and there – no baking required. I don’t know about you, but I am not at all opposed to eating raw pie dough – is that gross of me? Maybe, but I don’t care. Raw pie dough is delicious and if you don’t believe me, I insist you give it a try – I won’t judge you. Remember,  there will never been any food related judgement on this site 😀

So speaking as a girl who is clearly smitten with fruit pies – I am of the opinion that simply posting the pictures of this pie with the caption “Strawberry Rhubarb Pie” would have been more than a sufficient blog post. I mean, I can think of nothing more that needs to be said about this pie – It requires no further explanation or validation for its existence. This pie speaks volumes just by being its perfectly simple and fruity self – wouldn’t you agree?

So rather than bore you with alllll of the details behind why I chose to make this pie, I think it would be best if I just got straight to the point today so that you can make it asap… agreed? Agreed – here is the story of this pie in a paragraph:

I baked this pie as a special order for an afternoon tea themed wedding shower, along with the mini scones featured in this picture. (Adorable right?) After I had baked the pie, I had serious troubles letting it go-  Number 1: because it was so pretty; and Number 2: Because it smelled unbelievable, and I wanted nothing more than to eat it all. In the end my desire to share this pie with my customers won out over my burning desire to eat the pie to myself, and I delivered the pie as promised. After delivering the pie, I then proceeded to wine over the loss of the pie to myself the whole way home. I then got numerous text messages stating that the pie was devoured at the shower, and that it was delicious. Alas, even though my customers were extremely happy, I was then extremely jealous over having not been able to eat the pie. Presently, I am still craving the pie and therefore I think it would be in my best interest to make another 😀

Okay, so I guess that was a pretty long paragraph eh, but how is that for cutting to the chase 😉 ???  Are you ready for the recipe now ? I thought so – here it is my lovelies 😀 😀

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Makes 1 large 10×10 deep dish pie

Flaky Pie Crust
Things you need…

2 ½ cups AP Flour
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
½ cup ice water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt

Egg Wash
1 large egg, beaten
1 tbsp cream
1 tsp sugar

How to make… 
First – prepare your pie dough.

In a liquid measuring cup, add ½ cup of very cold water and stir in the lemon juice. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and granulated sugar. Add in your cubes of butter and lightly toss to evenly coat all of the butter cubes in flour.

Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture until most of the butter chunks are the size of peas, with some larger almond-sizes chunks remaining. The rest of the mixture should look like coarse sand.

Drizzle half of the ice water & lemon juice mixture over the dry ingredients and gently toss with your hands or a spatula. Drizzle the remaining half of the wet ingredients and gently stir with the spatula until a ragged dough forms.

Tip: Avoid the temptation to add more water as this can run the risk of making a chewy dough as opposed to the more desired flaky dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface & divide into 2 equal portions. Shape the doughs into disks and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or make ahead and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

In a small bowl whisk together egg, cream and sugar; place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Next – prepare your pie filling.

Strawberry Rhubarb Filling

Things you need… 
2 tbsp butter
3 cups rhubarb, sliced into ½-inch thick slices
3 1/2 cups quartered, strawberries
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
2 tbsp tapioca
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange zest
1 tbsp orange juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
¼ tsp salt

Assembly (For the pie base)
2 tbsp almond meal
2 tbsp rolled oats
1 tsp sugar

How to make… 

Sprinkle your sliced strawberries with 1 tbsp sugar and allow to sit for 1 hour. This will allow the strawberries to macerate and release any excess juices.

Meanwhile, heat butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the chopped rhubarb until it softens slightly, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the rhubarb to a large bowl, sprinkle with the orange juice juice and allow it to cool completely to room temperature.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the sugars, tapioca, cinnamon, ginger and orange zest.

After 1 hour, use a slotted spoon to transfer the macerated strawberries into the bowl with your cooled rhubarb, leaving behind any excess juices.

Assembly
Next, remove your chilled pie dough disks from the fridge & lightly flour a cool work surface. Unwrap one disk and lightly flour its surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a ¼ inch thick circular base for your pie; Lift the crust into your pie plate and gently press down.

Next roll the remaining pie disk in the same fashion as the first, into a ¼ inch thick circle. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 inch thick strips; set aside.

Sprinkle the base of the pie dough, with the almond meal, rolled oats and sugar (this will help to absorb any excess juices from your filling and prevent a soggy pie crust J)

Next finish preparing your filling; Add the sugar mixture to the to the bowl with the strawberries & rhubarb & add in vanilla; Stir gently with a spatula until evenly coated.

Pour the filling into the pie plate, arrange the pre-cut lattice strips on top and crimp the edges using your thumb & forefinger.

Brush the lattice pie top & edges with prepared egg wash and sprinkle the crust with coarse raw sugar or just granulated sugar.

Place pie on a baking sheet to prevent bubbly filling from falling to the bottom of your oven and bake in the lower third of the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F, move pie to center rack and continue to bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until filling is bubbling and pastry is golden.

**Tip**
If you find that your pie crust edges are getting to brown while the center is still quite pale – cover the edges with foil and continue to bake.

 

I LOVE strawberry rhubarb pie. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and say that it is probably my favourite flavour of fruit pie. The combination of the sweet strawberries with the tangy flavour of the rhubarb is just the epitome of perfection. I love this recipe because the filling is so nice and thick and it balances out the perfect combination of sweet & tart and with the addition of a few subtle spices, you really accent all of the flavours to create the perfect pie filling.

Do you love pie as much as me? I would love to hear about your favourite pie recipes or if you have any suggestions or questions about the pie making process 😀

Happy Pie Baking!

<3 KP