For a Good Friend: Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

A good friend of ours recently had his birthday.  I have heard him say on multiple occasions that he hates cake, but I still wanted to make him something for his birthday.  Over football Sunday (one of the many) he told me that his favorite dessert is Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie.  Well, that wasn’t too hard to figure out!  And strawberry rhubarb pie is was he got. 

Blake and I went down to the Pike Place Market the day before his birthday to pick up some fresh local strawberries and make a run through Sur-la-Table.  I was not going to skimp on this pie.  The market was a fun little trip and we were able to pick up some of the last fresh flowers of the season (you really can’t beat the flowers that are available at our market).

This was my first attempt at pie crust..  After reading horror stories on-line about so many failed attempts and {literally} tears shed over ruined crusts, I was a little intimidated to try one myself.  Lucky for me I knew our friend wouldn’t give me too hard of a time if I screwed up (which I did, on the filling).

All was going well, the crust rolled out nicely and fit into the pan almost perfectly, our kitchen wasn’t a total disaster and the pie was starting to fill our house with the beautiful smell of baked goods.  Then it hit me.  OH MY GOSH – I FORGOT TO ADD THE SUGAR TO THE FILLING!  I FORGOT TO ADD SUGAR TO A FRUIT PIE FILLING AND THE PIE HARD ALREADY BEEN BAKING FOR 35 MIN!!!

So I came up with an excuse when I brought the pie out to everyone. . . . since I was serving a Lemon Curd Tart as well, I didn’t want people to be on sugar overload.  And due to the fact that it was a bunch of guys eating the tart, they didn’t even mind that it wasn’t very sweet, they preferred more savory food.   AND THEN, the birthday boy told me loved it and ate almost a third of the pie!!  Hahaha, I was off the hook and they didn’t even know I had messed up!  Lucky me!

So here is the recipe for the Strawberry Rhubarb pie.  I found it on www.foodnetwork.com and it had been submitted by Valerie Enters.  I followed is almost exactly (see story above for the embarrassing details) and it still turned out great.  I even liked it and I have an ENORMOUS sweet tooth.

{RECIPE} Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

Yields: 9” pie

Ingredients

Crust:

   * 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional flour as needed

   * ½ cup cake flour (recommended: Soft as Silk)

   * 3 tsp. sifted powdered sugar

   * ½ cup butter flavored shortening (recommended: Crisco)

   * 1/4 cup salted butter

   * Pinch of salt

   * 1 egg

   * 2 tblsp vinegar

   * ¼ cup ice cold water

Filling:

   * 2 ½ cups chopped red rhubarb, fresh

   * 2 ½ cups de-stemmed and cut strawberries (large pieces)

   * 1 ½ cup sugar

   * 2 tblsp minute tapioca

   * 1 tblsp all-purpose flour

   * ½ tsp lemon zest

   * ½ tsp lemon juice

   * 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

   * 2 tblsp butter, cubed small

   * 1 egg white beaten with 1 tsp water

Crust Preparation

1.)  Using a pastry blender (or kitchen aid/ mixture), blend the flours, sugar, shortening, butter, and salt.  Blend until the mixture becomes chunky.

2.) Whisk the egg, vinegar and water in a 2-cup measure and pour over the dry ingredients, incorporating all of the ingredients without overworking the dough.  Toss a tiny but of additional flour over the ball of dough and wrap and chill, if possible.  Divide the dough into 2 disks.  Roll out 1 piece of dough to a a bottom crust.  Place into pie dish and let refrigerate (preferably overnight).

3.) When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  You can use the other round disk to make a solid top for the pie, or checkerboard strips like I did.

Filling Preparation

1.)  Mix the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, tapioca, flour, zest and juice from lemon, and vanilla in a large bowl.  Once all ingredients are well mixed, pour into chilled crust.  Dot the top of the filling with little pieces of the butter.  Brush edges of pie crust with egg white wash.  

2.) Roll out the other pie crust (or roll and cut it) and place over filling.  Crimp to seal edges.  Brush the egg white wash over the top of the pie crust.  Collar tin with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 45 – 50 minutes, or until the filling starts bubbling.  Let cool before serving.

**I topped my pie with sifted powdered sugar (to try and make up for the lack of sugar) which you can do as well for decoration**