Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

Since our first pie was the envy of all other pies, Robin and I decided to give it another go. She was able to set aside her hatred of strawberry-rhubarb pie (a warranted distaste for it based on having had one bite 6 years ago), so that we could make my favorite pie this time. For my birthday one year, Robin got me one of these amazing pies from House of Pies, which I then ate entirely by myself because college was a wonderful time of high metabolisms. This time, I was determined to ignore my gluttonous tendencies and share it with others (a true test of everything they taught us in Kindergarten).

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
Adapted From Food Network
Servings: 1 pie
Time: 150 minutes

Shockingly, Robin thought sugar coated fruit tasted sweet.

1 Crust Recipe
3 cups strawberries, de-stemmed and halved
2 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tbsp minute tapioca
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp butter, cubed small
1 egg white beaten with 1 tsp water
Coarse sugar
Vanilla ice cream

Our crust. The top reminds me of Boo from Super Mario World.

This assembles much easier than the lattice.

1. Make the crust dough according to the recipe from the link provided. Helpful hint: roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper for the best results. 
2. Preheat the oven to 425.
3. Combine the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, tapioca, flour, cinnamon, lemon and vanilla together in a large bowl. Mix well to evenly coat.
4. Lay one piece of dough over the pie plate. Add in the filling and dot with butter. Then cover with a second sheet of dough. Make sure you cut holes into the top for ventilation.
5. Brush the crust with your egg wash and sprinkle on the sugar.
6. Collar the ends with aluminum foil to help prevent them from burning then bake for 15 minutes.
7. Lower the temperature to 375 and bake for another 40-50 minutes until the filling starts to bubble.
8. Remove from the oven to cool then serve with a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream.

We really need to get proper pie cutting utensils.

Warm strawberry-rhubarb pie cut with some melty vanilla ice cream is a true thing of beauty. That first bite into the gooey deliciousness made all my worries disappear. This pie was absolutely incredible, but could use a few minor improvements. The filling came out a little liquidy (which has since been remedied with a day in the fridge) and had a tiny bit too much lemon. Also, it wasn't quite tart enough, so I would try for a more even ratio of strawberry to rhubarb next time.  One interesting thing I found is that the pie actually seems to have gotten better the second day, probably since the flavors have had some more time to come together.

What a happy looking pie. I almost feel bad eating it. Almost.

Additionally, the crust came out even better than last time, and the parchment paper rolling made it a lot easier to make. In the overall pie war, however, I think the cherry pie (for once) actually wins out as far as flavor goes, but the strawberry-rhubarb is a close second (and would definitely win with the previously mentioned fixes).

I'd say we're just a few pies and a detective agency away from being able to open our own quirky pie diner.

I'm quite happy with our first two attempts at pie. Now that we've conquered fruit pies, I think we can focus our efforts on the strange world of chocolate pies and making the world's tallest meringue (mostly I just want an awesome picture of giant meringue).

Editor's Note: Immediately after posting this, I ate a piece of pie, and it was delightful.