Pie in the Sky

We had the perfect weekend for a family barbecue and that occasion called for homemade pie! I had been waiting all winter and spring for the perfect moment to make & savor this particular pie. It was a strawberry rhubarb custard pie and it was heavenly! Since I was little I have always loved rhubarb. I used to eat the stalks straight from the plant. They were very sour but I loved it!


Now that my rhubarb plants (see picture above) are thriving I felt I could harvest some to make a pie. I was amazed that the stalks were so big I only needed around 2 large stalks to make this pie along with some strawberries. Luckily I had made a pie crust ahead that I had frozen so it was ready to go!

I'm happy to say that this pie turned out wonderfully and it was delicious! It is based on an old family recipe that my grandma used to make for rhubarb custard pie. I just added half strawberries and half rhubarb. Here is the recipe and my notes. Enjoy!

All Butter Pie Crust:

Pie Crust: Makes 2 large (10 inch) or 3 small (8 inch) single crust pies. ( I prefer my crust to be fairly thick and have a lot of room for crimping around the edge.)

5 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 pound- 4 sticks cold butter cut into small pieces
1 cup ice water

Mix dry ingredients together in a food processor. Cut in butter until coarse crumbs appear. Pour in ice water slowly until combined. Make 2 large disks out of the dough & wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. After 1 hour let dough set on counter for about 15 to 20 minutes until pliable.

May be frozen as dough or made into pie crusts & frozen.

Strawberry Rhubarb Custard Pie:

Pie Filling:

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chopped rhubarb
2 cups chopped strawberries
2 eggs- beaten

Streusel:

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons soft butter

Bake pie shell in a 450 F oven for 5 minutes. Remove and cool while making the pie filling.

For filling, in a mixing bowl combine sugar and flour. Add the rhubarb and strawberries; toss to coat. Let stand for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Beat eggs slightly with a fork. Stir into rhubarb mixture. Transfer mixture into pie shell.

Mix streusel ingredients with fingers until crumbly. Top pie with struesel. Cover entire pie with foil and place on a baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 375 F. Bake for 30 minutes. Take the foil off and bake for another 30-35 minutes. Make sure the middle is mostly set. It will be slightly soft but will set more upon cooling. Put the foil back on if the pie crust is browning too much. The pie may need an additional 15-20 minutes baking time depending on if the filling is mostly set or not.

Enjoy your lovely pie!