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Recipe: Rhubarb Pie

A luscious sweet and tart pie straight from the garden

F*ck I love making pie. All you need is a good pie crust recipe and fresh ingredients to fill it. 

I made a rhubarb pie while visiting Moon Made Farms in Humboldt during our epic 10-day road trip using fresh stalks from Tina’s garden. Rhubarb is usually a spring vegetable available in early spring through summer, late April to June. But high in the mountains where the weather is cooler, this tart herbaceous edible stalk lasts late into the summer and makes a delicious pie. Be careful though, because the leaves are toxic if eaten. 

Typically paired with strawberries to sweeten the sour rhubarb, this pie is straight rhubarb with no berries. If you’d like to add some strawberries into the mix, feel free to substitute some strawberries with rhubarb, making sure to discard any liquid from the macerated sugar mixture so you don’t get a soggy bottom pie. 

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STRAIN PAIRING: Pair this pie with any flower from Moon Made Farms and thank me later. 

Just like the organic rhubarb growing in the garden, the c*nn*bis at Moon Made Farms is grown outdoors in the sun, in natural living soil using organic and regenerative farming practices. The c*nn*bis leaf was growing right next to the rhubarb, they’re mycelial network friends. These are happy plants that lived their best life soaking in the sun with the best view in the world.  

view from Moon Made Farms

Fruit+Flower Unfurled is a reader-supported publication. To support my work become a free or paid subscriber.


with farmer Tina Gordon of Moon Made Farms

Rhubarb Pie Recipe

PRINTABLE PDF

The c*nn*bis leaf is for decoration only. It does not make the pie infused and it will NOT get you high.

Time to Prepare: 6 hours total (1-hour prep + 1-hour dough chill time + 1+ hour baking + 4 hours cooling)

INGREDIENTS:

Pie Crust (makes one bottom crust, and one top crust)

  • 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

  • 1 cup (2 stick or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon sugar

  • 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Rhubarb Filling

  • 6 cups chopped rhubarb (about seven large stalks)

  • 1 cup granulated sugar

  • ¼ cup flour

  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon orange zest

  • 1½ tablespoons butter

Egg Wash

  • 1 egg

  • 1 teaspoon milk or cream

  • 1 tablespoon coarse sugar

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Make pie dough: Mix flour, sugar, and salt -- in a large bowl or in a food processor. Add butter, cut in the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or your fingers. If using a food processor, add half at a time, pulsing several times after each addition. Pulse to cut in the butter and mix until the texture is like soft wet sand with butter chunks no larger than pea-sized. Flatten butter chunks with your fingers. Slowly drizzle ice water a little at a time. Mix or pulse. Then add more ice water a tablespoon at a time until the dough just starts to come together.  

Press pie dough to see if it holds together. You know that the mixture is ready if when you pinch some of the crumbly dough together with your fingers, it holds together. Don’t add too much water or your dough will be tough. Gather the mixture and divide the dough into two halves. Knead just enough for the dough to hold together, but don’t over-knead. Press the dough together and form two flat dough disks. This will help when you need to roll it out. 

You’ll see cold butter chunks/streaks speckling the dough. These small bits of butter will spread out into layers as the crust bakes to create a flaky crust. Wrap each one in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour or up to 2 days.

2. Make rhubarb filling: In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and zest. Add the chopped rhubarb and stir to coat. Set aside to macerate while you prepare the pie crust. 

3. Roll the bottom pie dough: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator and place on a rolling surface between two large sheets of parchment paper. Very lightly flour the dough disk to help it stick less to the parchment. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8-inch thick. As you roll out the dough, if the parchment is getting wrinkled on the dough, peel the parchment off the dough, sprinkle lightly with flour, and continue rolling.

Peel the parchment slowly and carefully off the dough on one side. If it’s very sticky, put it in the fridge for a little bit to chill and harden. Place the parchment back on top and flip the dough with both parchment papers over. Peel the parchment off the other side. 

Place a pie plate upside-down on top of the dough. Grab the side of the pie plate along with the parchment paper with both hands and flip them right-side up. Take the sides of the dough and lift them gently to fall into the pie pan so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Don’t stretch or press the dough down. Use a fork to poke holes on the bottom of the crust to allow steam to escape when baking. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar evenly across the bottom of the pie dough. Place in the fridge to chill while you prep the next steps.  

4. Roll the top pie dough: Remove second crust disk from the refrigerator and place on a rolling surface between the sheets of parchment paper. Lightly flour the dough, and repeat. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8-inch thick. 

Peel the parchment slowly and carefully off the dough on one side. If it’s very sticky, put it in the fridge for a little bit to chill and harden. 

Optional – add c*nn*bis leaf decoration: Place one large, clean leaf in the center of the rolled out pie dough. Place the parchment paper on top and gently roll to flatten and press the leaf into the dough. Set aside. 

5. Add rhubarb filling: Carefully add the rhubarb mixture into the bottom crust and pie pan, discarding any liquid to prevent the pie from getting soggy. Gently spread and press evenly into the pan until there’s a heaping dome of rhubarb filling with a flat top. 

6. Place the top pie crust: Peel the parchment paper off the top pie crust, and gently place on top of the rhubarb filled pie pan. Use the rolling pin to help transfer the crust. Using your fingers, tuck the extra pie dough hanging off the sides under the bottom pie crust, and press with your thumb and forefinger to seal and make a ripple-edged pie crust. Repeat all the way around until the edges are sealed. Cut off any excess dough too large to tuck under. Place the pie in the freezer for 5 minutes for the crust to set before baking. 

In a small bowl, make the egg wash. Whisk together one egg and 1 teaspoon of milk or cream. Using a silicon or pastry brush, gently brush the egg mixture on top of the chilled pie dough. Evenly sprinkle coarse sugar on top of the pie for a crystallized sugar effect. 

7. Bake the pie: Place the pie on top of a baking sheet (to catch drips), into the preheated oven on the bottom rack (to prevent soggy bottoms) at 400 degrees F. Bake for about 1 hour. Loosely tent the top of the pie with aluminum foil part way through baking to keep the crust and decorative leaf from browning too much. Turn the pie halfway through baking to evenly brown on all sides. 

Remove the aluminum foil after 1 hour, and continue to bake until the crust turns golden brown. If using a glass pie tin, you can see the crust color. If using a metal pie tin, bake time will be less because metal transfers heat faster. If using a ceramic pie tin, allow extra baking time – 20-25 minutes longer for the bottom crust to bake completely and turn golden brown. 

8. Cool the pie: Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for at least 4 hours before serving. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. After it’s cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 4 days.   

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I got so caught up in the moment hosting dinner at Moon Made Farms that I forgot to take photos of the pie AFTER baking. Trust me, it’s just as beautiful after baking as it is before.

XOXO, Christina W.

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Fruit+Flower Unfurled
Recipes
Welcome to the Fruit + Flower Cookbook, recipes for my delectable creations that can be made with or without c*nn*bis. Includes instructions and amounts for low and high dose amounts -- at 5mg [tea]HC per serving (low dose) and 100mg [tea]HC per serving (high dose).