in season: rhubarb redemption

The last time I made Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, things didn't go so well. It was disappointing enough that I haven't made anything else rhubarb since then. But another spring is upon us, and a chance to finally redeem myself. And boy, did I redeem myself. Because this time, the pie was awesome.



Perhaps it was because this time, I used an actual recipe instead of cobbling together a dozen disparate recipes. This keeper from Epicurious.com was right on, except that it called for a ridiculously long bake time of 1 hour 45 minutes. I'm thinking that might be a typo, because mine was perfect after about 55 minutes, and that's about the same for every fruit pie I make. I did go with slightly less sugar than the recipe called for fear of an overly sweet result, but it is probably fine as is. The sweetness level was great with less sugar, but I don't think the original amount would be too sweet, it just depends on how sweet you like it and what you might serve it with.



This recipe also called for cornstarch as the thickener instead of the tapioca that I've been using for most fruit pies. The filling turned out pretty runny, but not significantly different from tapioca's results. I guess the plus to using tapioca is that you don't need nearly as much. Pretty much any fruit pie of this kind will be runny on the first day anyway, at least in my experience, but it doesn't make it any less delicious. I wouldn't give up eating a warm slice just to have it more set.



Yum, I can't wait to get home tonight to eat the leftovers. Recipe after the jump:

LATTICE-TOPPED STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE
Adapted from Epicurious.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
10 tablespoons (about) ice water

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)
1/3 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 flass 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 an additional 25-30 minutes until top crust is golden brown and the filling begins to bubble. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.