Still on my rhubarb kick, with a few stalks left in my fridge I decided to make a rhubarb pie on Monday. So off to my book of 300 Pie’s I go to find a good recipe.

I found what looked like a recipe that would taste great and got to preparing. Since I wanted to use my Emile Henry pie plate Kasie so awesomely gave to me, I had to bump up most of the ingredients a little more. What I quickly realized was that I didn’t have enough Rhubarb to fill my pie plate. So rather than going out to buy more I just filled the remainder with strawberries. I mean who doesn’t love strawberries and rhubarb anyway?

Since the colors of the strawberry and rhubarb filling would be a distinct red I decided a lattice top to the pie would make for a better presentation. If you have never done a lattice before you will find it is pretty easy once you get the braiding technique. I could explain it to you, but I think it would be easier just to show in pictures. So find below how to make a lattice-top for a pie.

Pretty easy right? I like to use wider strips personally. I find skinnier strips look a bit funny on a pie, and are also harder to cut later. Plus it is more working doing the lattice!

I enjoyed this pie, as did my number one taste tester Oliver. However I quickly realized with this recipe and the rhubarb berry crumble I made the other day, that I don’t like citrus in my rhubarb desserts. Oliver quiet enjoyed the orange tang this pie had, but I found it detracted too much from the rhubarb flavor too much, which for me is the main reason to bake with rhubarb. Regardless the pie still tasted good.

Recipe

3 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter
1/2 cup cold lard
1/2 cup cold water

5 cups rhubarb
2 cups strawberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
zeset of 1/2 orange
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold butter

First step with most pies is to prepare the pie crust. You will want to do this at least 1 hour (if not longer) before you start to bake your pie. I have come to find the best and easiest way to make pie crust is in a food processor.

To use your food processor, put the flour sugar and salt into the bowl, and pulse a few times to mix. Then scatter the cold butter throughout the bowl and pulse 5-6 times. Fluff with a fork, then sprinkle the lard throughout the bowl, and pulse again 5-6 times. Fluff once more, then drizzle in 1/2 the cold water and pulse again another 5-6 times. Fluff, add remaining water, and finish with a final 5-6 pulses. The pie pastry should be crumbly at this point. Dump the pastry into a bowl and work into two balls, one a little larger than the other. Then flatten each ball into a disc about 3/4″ thick. Cover each with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.

Once the pastry has spent at least an hour in the fridge take larger disc out and put on a floured surface and roll out to be a good 12 inches. Gentle fold the pastry twice and place into the pie plate. Once in the plate you can unfold the pastry to fill the plate. Tuck the pastry into the pan by lifting around the outside so it slides in. You do not want to stretch the pastry. Let any remaining pastry overhang the plate. Put the plate and pastry back into the fridge while you prepare the rest of the pie.

Cut the rhubarb and combine with strawberries in a large bowl. Add the sugar, orange juice, zest, salt and nutmeg. mix well then set aside for 10-20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl combine your corn starch and an additional 2 tablespoons of sugar, then mix into your bowl of fruit. By this time there should be a lot of juices from the rhubarb to mix into. Take the pie plate out of the fridge, and pour the fruit into the pie shell. Dot the top of the filling with butter.

Now it is time to do the lattice. Take the second disc out of the fridge and roll it out on a floured surface to be about 10 inches. Cut the rolled pastry into 8 wide strips. Now apply the lattice to the top of the pie as per the photos above. Use a pastry brush and some water to attach the lattice to the sides of the pie. Then cut off any extra overhanging pastry around the pie plate. Lastly brush the top of the lattice with milk or water, then sprinkle sugar on top. Now we are ready to bake.

Put the pie into the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes. It should start to be getting a nice golden color. After this time rotate the pie 180 degrees. At this point you may want to put a pan under the pie plate on a lower rack to catch any bubbled over juices. Finally bake for an additional 25 minutes or so. You will want to see the filling and juices starting to bubble up. Remove the pie from the oven and let stand for a good 2-3 hours before eating. That is it, Rhubarb Strawberry Pie.

Notes: In the future I would not add the orange juice or zest out of personal preference. Also I find that rhubarb has enough juice on it’s own, that adding the orange juice just made the pie a bit runny. If you decide to keep the OJ in, I would suggest adding a bit more corn starch to counter act the additional liquid in the pie.

I am definitely going to give this recipe a second try. Next time without the orange juice and zest, perhaps with a bit more cornstarch. I would also like to try this recipe without the strawberries, and have the filling be all rhubarb. If you try this recipe post a comment and let me know if you liked it or not.