Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

 In the great cake vs. pie debate, I've always sat squarely on Team Cake.  Don't get me wrong, I won't turn down a warm piece of apple pie with a scoop of ice cream on top if someone else is making it.  But when it comes to how I want to celebrate my birthday or special occasion, there better be a big tall cake with a hefty dose of chocolate.  Not so for BFF Jill.  For her birthday, she wanted pie.  Fruit pie.  If cake is my comfort zone, fruit pie is the middle seat on an airplane wearing spanx that are one size too small.

When I brought up my baking plans to some friends, I learned that a lot of people are serious about their love for pie.  And then I made this strawberry rhubarb pie with a lattice-topped crust, and now I'm confused.  Why have I spent the last 26 years avoiding homemade pie dough?  And why did it take this long for me to eat my first rhubarb?  And what's so great about cake anyway?  Ok, maybe I'm getting carried away, but I assure you that this pie is a summer classic, and a huge crowd pleaser.  And I'm thinking a lot about pie.  More on that later...  But for now, let's talk about pie dough.



Some people fear baking with yeast, but until recently, nothing scared me like pie crust.  Recipes always call for perfectly chilled ingredients, and there just seemed to be too many places it could go wrong.   You could start with butter that was too warm, or you could add too much water, or you could overmix, or your dough could stick to the board, or you could breathe too loudly or vote for the wrong Idol contestant.  So what's a pie novice to do?  Relax.  This crust was surprisingly fixable, and the best advice about pie crust I read was "make a lot of pie".  That said, this attempt went really well.  Get yourself an iced tea and have at it.

You could use a metal pastry cutter to mix in your butter, but mine is kinda broken and John hates washing it, so I opted for the food processor.  I adore this Cuisinart because it's big enough to make a full batch of dough, and it's quiet as a mouse.

Mix flour, sugar, and a bit of salt.

And put some ice water in a measuring cup.  Your ingredients will need to be COLD!

 Again with the cold...  Cold butter, and some cold shortening (I imagine you could get by with all butter, but I haven't tried it).

Now you don't want to over-mix this, so just hit pulse a few times until the butter incorporates and the dough looks like coarse meal.

See these pea-sized lumps?  Stop mixing when the dough is at this point.

Now we pulse in the ice water, 2 tablespoons at a time, until it just barely comes together.

I may have been a bit overly cautious with the water, but I stopped when the dough looked like this.

  As you can see, it's still really crumbly, so I added a bit more water and kneaded it in.

 

 Then gather the dough into a ball (it will still be somewhat flaky)...

And cut the ball in half.  This will be your top and bottom crust.

Wrap the dough in plastic, and smash it into a disk.  Refrigerate for at least an hour, and up to a day.

Now we can get going on the filling.  The filling is as easy as the crust is tricky.  Chop up some rhubarb...

And some strawberry.

 Here's where it gets fun.  Brown sugar, white sugar, cornstarch, and a bit of salt.  Gently stir it all together and let it sit for a bit.

 Once your dough is good and chilled, it's time to roll it out.

 I'll confess, mine was falling apart a bit here, so I put some cold water on my fingers and worked it in until it held together.  It took me a few tries before it rolled out without sticking to the rolling pin, so don't freak out if it doesn't go perfectly the first time.

When it's time to put the dough into your pie pan, roll it around your rolling pin like so.

Then gently roll into your pie dish.  Doesn't this look picture perfect?

 Why no it doesn't.  But like many pie dough mishaps, it's fixable.  Roll out the second disk, and use a bit of the dough to patch areas where the dough doesn't reach the top of the dish.

 See?  That wasn't so bad.

Check out your fruit filling.  It looks like this.  All juicy and gooey and beautiful.

 Put it in the pie crust.

Now roll out your second disk of pie dough, and use a pizza cutter or a roller with a scalloped edge.  Roll out seven strips and place them across the pie going in the same direction.  Now let's make the lattice.

 Now peel back every other strip, and place one strip perpendicular to the rest.  Then unfold, and peel back the opposing strips.  Sound confusing?  Check out a nifty tutorial here.

I took a few more strips of pie dough, and wrapped them around the edges.  Then pinch around the perimeter of the crust to make a pretty scalloped edge. We want a nice golden crust, so whisk an egg yolk with a bit of water.

Brush the egg wash over the top of the pie.  I also sprinkled the top of the pie with sugar, but it browned a bit more than I would have liked, so I'd probably skip that step next time.

 Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, and your gorgeous finished pie will look a little something like this.

So bakers/bloggers...  Anyone interested in a little summer pie project?  Maybe we have a pie assignment every couple weeks, and then blog and compare our experiences?   Shoot us an email at butterpluscream@gmail.com if you're interested!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Barely adapted from Bon Appetit April 1997, via SmittenKitchen.com

For crust

3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
7 tablespoons (about) ice water (I started with 6 tablespoons, and added a bit more when I rolled out the dough)

For filling
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Make crust:
Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. Using on/off turns, cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in enough ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; cut in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)

Make filling:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.

Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang. 

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively. 

Brush glaze over crust. Transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. 

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about 1 hour. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.