Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Buttermilk Crust

The Legendary Strawberry Rhubarb Pie- we meet at last. After learning what all the hype was about with Rhubarb (thanks to my beloved RhuBars), I wanted to make something else with the mysterious ingredient. This was the verdict.

I got the filling from Smitten and the crust from Joy the Baker. I'm going to be brutally honest- it was not the talk of the town as I had hoped. Every one's opinion was different. Too sweet; crust and filling didn't compliment each other; too watery. As for me? The angels did not sing- even though I loved all the fresh fruit. I ended up eating most of the filling, woops.

The buttermilk pie crust did not win me over- that's just me. For more photos and even a video, please visit Joy's site. It was an absolute pain to make. The dough is hella shaggy. I was practically begging it to stay together while rolling it out. That's how it is meant to be- don't panic. I prefer the pie crust from the Peach Pie earlier this summer- that one caused less heart ache and stress.

The filling was yummy- but a lil sweet. Next time I make this, I am cutting the amount of sugar in half. It wasn't even a lot! But I think these two elements are perfectly sweet as they are. I was intrigued by Smitten's use of tapioca/boba balls to soak up the juice- but not impressed with the results. Hey man- i LOVE bubble tea, don't get me wrong. However, I recommend using tapioca flour as a substitute.... Hm. I just may create a bubble tea pie!

Note: It's always good to make the pie crust the day before. Space things out and better distributes the amount of time you spend in the kitchen.

Happy Friday Everybody! Song of the day (ignore the video, just enjoy the beat)....



Buttermilk Pie Crust

2 sticks (8 ounces) cold unsalted butter
2 1/2 (12 ounces) cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (5 to 6 ounces) buttermilk

Cut the butter into 1-inch pieces and place in the freezer to chill for 15 minutes.

Sift together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Take the cold butter from the freezer and toss it with the flour mixture.

Dump the cold butter cubes and flour mixture onto a large work area for rolling. With a rolling pin, roll the mixture, flattening the butter cubes with the flour into long, thin, floured butter sheets. Work quickly to ensure that the butter stays cold.

Place the flour and flattened butter back in the large bowl and chill for 10 minutes. When the butter is cold, remove the bowl from the refrigerator, make a small well in the center of the flour and butter mixture. Add cold buttermilk to the bowl all at once. Begin to bring the dough together. Moisten all of the flour with the milk, using your hand to break up large clumps of milk and flour. The dough will be rather shaggy, but you can add another tablespoon of buttermilk, if you see that all your flour isn’t moistened. Split the dough in half and form into two disks. Disks will be rough, and hard to shape together.

Chill the dough for at least an hour in the refrigerator. At this point, the dough will keep in the fridge for up to three days, or in the freezer for up to three weeks. For freezing, roll the dough out into sheets and wrap them in plastic film.

Roll one disk so it's large enough to cut out a 12-inch circle. Gently press one disk into baking pan. Transfer the pie filling mixture to the pie shell annnnddddd......

Filling

3 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds, untrimmed) rhubarb, in 1/2-inch thick slices
3 1/2 cups (about 1 pound) strawberries, hulled and sliced if big, halved if tiny
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca or tapioca flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for Glaze)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Stir together rhubarb, strawberries, sugars, lemon, salt and tapioca in a large bowl.

Mound filling inside bottom pie crust and dot with bits of unsalted butter. Roll second half of pie dough into an 11-inch circle. Moisten the border of the bottom crust by brushing it lightly with Glaze and place the top crust over the filling. Trim top and bottom pie dough so that their overhang beyond the pie plate lip is only 1/2-inch. Tuck the overhand under the bottom crust boarder and press down all around to seal it. Crimp the border using a fork or your fingers and make about 5 evenly spaced 2-inch slashes starting about 1 inch from the center of the pie and radiating toward the edge. Brush more glaze on top.

Cover the pie loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 1 hour before baking. This will chill and relax the pastry, preventing shrinking.

Bake for 25 minutes then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until the pie is golden and the juices bubble visibly.

Transfer pie to wire rack to cool. When full cool (several hours later) the juices gel.