Strawberry rhubarb pie is a comfort food classic. My mom has made them for as long as I can remember, and she's always had rhubarb ready for picking in her garden. As soon as our rhubarb came up this year (it's come really early and we're all so excited), I immediately made the flakiest, yummiest country strawberry rhubarb pie. It was delicious, and so I wanted to share the recipe with all of you today!
This recipe is a combo of what my mom does, my favourite pie crust recipe, and what I've experimented with along the way. This version of strawberry rhubarb pie has a thick flaky crust, it's a nice balance of sweet and tart, and the filling has a custard feel with the addition of a bit of milk and an egg.
I couldn't believe how large our rhubarb was already this year! It's only April and we are in Zone 3, so things don't grow too quickly here. I think it was a combination of the black mulch we applied on our new flower and fruit garden last year and our mild winter that's made everything come back up so fast!
Strawberries are finally less expensive at the grocery store, so I mixed our garden rhubarb with some grocery store strawberries for this pie. I can't wait until our garden strawberries make an appearance, though! Using both ingredients fresh from the earth is so exciting.
The addition of a little bit of milk and egg to this pie filling gives it a warm pudding-like consistency which I really like for strawberry rhubarb pie. The egg and small amount of flour in the filling also make the filling hold together quite well.
In these photos, the filling is oozing out of the pie a little, but the pie is still quite warm here. (Mmmmmmm.) If you let the pie cool for at least an hour, the filling holds together quite nicely when the pie is cut.
Just like my country apple pie, I use a very traditional sort of pie crust recipe for this pie that I find is so deliciously flaky. It can't be beat. Cheers to the start of garden season, and I hope you enjoy this strawberry rhubarb pie recipe!
- 1½ cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup lard (Tenderflake)
- ¼ - ½ cup cold water
- 3 cups chopped rhubarb
- 2 cups chopped strawberries
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup flour
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- To make the crust, mix together the flour and the salt in a bowl. Cut in the lard using a pastry blender until the consistency is crumb-like. Pour in the cold water a little at a time with a fork until the pastry leaves the sides of the bowl and forms a ball. Don't over mix! Cover the pastry with plastic wrap and refridgerate while you're making the pie filling.
- To make the filling, mix together the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, flour, egg, milk and vanilla in a large bowl.
- Once the pastry has chilled, cut it in half and roll it out into two large circles big enough to fill your pie plate. Place the bottom crust in the pie plate, and pour the filling inside. Cover the filling with the top pie crust.
- Trim, fold under and flute the edges of the pie crust. Cut slits into the top of the pie. Brush the top crust with milk and sprinkle with the 2 Tbsp of sugar.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until the crust is golden.
- Let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Our rhubarb is huge already too! I'm not a huge pie fan (well, the filling I love - but pie crust isn't always my favourite ), but I bought a strawberry rhubarb pie from the farmer's market last year and it was AMAZING. I think I should give your recipe a try! I usually like to use honey instead of sugar in my baking though, do you think that could work?
I think honey could totally work! I'd love to try that too. If I do, I'll let you know how it tastes.
Great photos and wellies!
Takes me back to my own childhood when my grandfather also grew rhubarb and my Gran make a great pie.
Rhubarb can be a little sharp but some cream or ice-cream balances it out well (and makes it true comfort food!).
Thanks for the memories!
Sandy.
I love rhubarb but adding strawberries is something I had not though of, will give it a try. Unfortunately, my kid hate rhubarb!!