Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Strawberry Rhubarb pie a la mode.

Oh warm weather, here you come with your beautiful bounty of fruits and vegetables. What's that I see? Rhubarb? Hello lovely, why is it that your season is so short? Tart, tangy burst of flavor. So yummy.  Mixed with berries and surrounded by buttery pastry. Strawberries and rhubarb and one of those combinations that sing summer to me.

Bake with a scale, it'll be easier, more precise, and you'll have less dishes.

This recipe is adapted from the Magnolia Bakery in New York. It's so good. The orange zest brightens the flavor of the berries and rhubarb that are both sweet and tart. I love a flaky yummy crust, but if you prefer less calories, bake this with just the filling and the crumb topping for a great cobbler or crumble.

Strawberries and rhubarb fill this yummy pie with sweet tart flavor. 

I add orange zest in the crumb topping along with the filling. The zest is optional but gives such a bright flavor. If you prefer lemon zest, that is wonderful also. If you don't like citrus, you can add a little ground ginger to the filling and omit all the zest. The ginger will give it some warmth, about 1/2- 3/4 teaspoon of ground ginger.

Strawberry Rhubarb pie.

This crumb topping was over processed, I like bigger crumbs on my pie. But it just depends on preference. One of the most important things with this pie is to LET IT COOL FULLY. At LEAST four hours, more is better. Unless you want a soupy mess when you cut into it and serve. Trust me on this one. LET. IT. COOL.

To process rhubarb, wash it and trim off any leaves, discard them. If the rhubarb has lots of tough string remove them. I do this by breaking and end and peeling the string off. A vegetable peeler would work also.

To enjoy rhubarb year round, wash and trim it. Cut it into pieces and flash freeze on a cookie sheet. Once frozen transfer the rhubarb into a container or freezer bags.

Here are a couple more pies I baked to take to a friend's house. You can see the topping has bigger crumb topping. I like that better. This recipe is easily doubled.

 I've also started to freeze rhubarb for the winter and fall. I will be glad to have this fresh almost citrusy vegetable year round.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

(Adapted from Magnolia Bakery)

 1 Pie crust, recipe here, or use your favorite.

Filling

1 cup sugar (210 grams)

1.5 tablespoons all purpose flour (15 grams)

1 tablespoon corn starch or tapioca starch flour (10 grams) 

1 tsp orange zest (or lemon)

1/4 teaspoon salt  

4 cups rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1” & 1⁄2” pieces, about 5-6 stalks, (About 500 grams)

3 cups strawberries, trimmed and cut in half or quarters (About 330 grams)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (28 gram)

Crumb topping 

1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter (1 stick or 4 oz )

1 1/3 cups flour (190 grams)

3/4 cup brown sugar (150 grams)

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon of orange zest

1. Prepare Crust. 
2. Place crust into a 9 inch pie dish.
3. Trim and flute edge as desired.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. 

*This makes a LOT of crumb topping, you can get by with 1/2 of this recipe if you don't like a tall topping. 

For the filling:

1. Mix the sugar, flour, corn starch, zest, and salt into a big bowl. Reserve 2 tablespoons of this sugar mixture in a small bowl.
2. Toss rhubarb and strawberries into the big bowl of sugar mixture. Set aside.

Crumb topping:

1. Combine ingredients in a food processor and pulse until you have a unevenly crumbly mixture.
2. Or cut butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or two butter knives.

Assemble the pie and bake:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Sprinkle reserved 2 tablespoons of sugar mixture on the bottom of the pie crust.
3. Pour fruit mixture into the pie crust.
4. Evenly top fruit mixture with 2 tablespoons cold butter.
5. Place crumb topping on top of the pie .
6. Bake pie on a parchment lined baking sheet for 10 minutes.
7. Turn oven down to 350 degrees F, and bake pie for 35-45 minutes. Until filling is bubbly and thick. Cover outside crust with a pie shield if crust is getting too browned.
8. Let pie cool for at least four hours or more so the filling thickens and sets.

Freezer Tip:

1. Flash freeze the rhubarb. Freeze prepped rhubarb on a cookie sheet in a single layer, once frozen transfer to a bag to measure cup for cup when you bake.
2. Freeze strips of citrus zest the same way and store them in zip top bags for when you need to add zest to a recipe.

Find more Freezer Tips here.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you make it please let me know in the comments below or on Facebook. Have a great week!!

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