Rhubarb goes nuts in Alaska in summertime so you’d think we’d all be good at making rhubarb pie, but as it turns out, a good rhubarb pie is kind of tricky to nail. Many things can go wrong. Like, it’s hard to get the sweetness right. Another problem: it doesn’t gel. Sometimes when I’m trying to get better at a very standard Alaska recipe that I don’t feel good about, I go back to basics. I look at the family recipe, I read a bunch of old cookbooks, and I call His Pieness, my Uncle Tommy, master pie maker.
I talked to him this week as I was eyeing my massive rhubarb plant for pie purposes because I was curious about Crisco, which my grandmother Lidia, from the opposite side of the family, used in her rhubarb pie crusts. He was emphatically anti. Too gross and chemically, he said. And, I wanted to know how to make my rhubarb pie gel better, as versions with flour and cornstarch hadn’t been great. Tapioca, he said. (He uses tapioca starch, but easier-to-find, quick-cooking tapioca works great, too.) And let it cool all the way. This is the key. I also read up on getting the pie’s sweetness right and decided it makes sense to cut it with strawberries. I learned a hack involving first, macerating the filling in sugar to release its juices, and second, adding a layer of sugar under the filling. And, I applied another general pie trick: I baked it on a preheated sheet pan to avoid soggy bottom. The result was, I must say, the very best rhubarb pie I have every made. Try it!
The Best Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie
Ingredients:
Two salted butter pie crusts (Here’s a GF crust recipe, too.)
3 cups chopped rhubarb
2 cups chopped strawberries
1 cup + ¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
¼ cup quick-cooking tapioca
1 egg, beaten
Sugar for sprinkling on top
Method: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put a parchment-covered sheet pan on the rack to heat. In a large bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, 1 cup sugar and orange juice to macerate for at least 15 minutes. Add the tapioca to the fruit and stir to distribute evenly. While the fruit sits, roll out your pie crusts. Press the first crust into the pie pan. Sprinkle the additional ¼ cup of sugar onto the interior bottom of the crust-covered pan. Pour in the fruit. Cover with a second crust. (If you want to make a lattice crust, here’s a video tutorial.) If you aren’t making a lattice crust, prick the crust with a knife. Brush the crust with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake on the hot sheet pan for 55 minutes or a little longer, until the crust is golden and, importantly, you see the filling bubbling out and starting to gel. The pie will set as it cools. Allow it to cool completely before serving.
Preheated sheet pan! How have I never thought of that? Genius move. Thanks!