That vintage feel inspired this canned tart cherry pie, which I’ve flavored as my grandmother and mother did, using cherry kirsch or kirschwasser, an old-timey liquor of German origin. If you don’t mess with alcohol, a quarter teaspoon of almond extract will also be just fine. Or you can use both for a little more complex flavor. I also use one of my favorite crust recipes, which replaces the water with ice-cold vodka. The alcohol evaporates totally, leading to a loftier pastry. One last tip: be careful with the cherries. The goal is to fold them into the gel at the end and leave them mostly whole. They are very delicate. I change up my crust design every time, using a pizza cutter and ruler to cut the dough if I want to weave it into a lattice. If you want inspiration for that, let the internet be your guide.

Vintage tart cherry pie

Makes one 9-inch pie

For the crust:

1 cup (two sticks) salted cold butter

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

3 tablespoons sugar, divided.

3 to 4 tablespoons ice-cold vodka

For the filling:

3 14.5-ounce cans tart cherries in water

1 cup granulated sugar

Juice of one half a lemon, about 1.5 tablespoons

1 tablespoon cherry kirsch (you can also sub or add in 1/4 teaspoon almond extract)

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons salted butter

One egg, beaten

Sugar for sprinkling over the top

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Make the crusts one at the time. Using a food processor, process one stick of butter with one cup of flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar until it forms a meal. With the blade running, drizzle cold vodka in until it just begins to coalesce into a ball. Pull it out of the bowl of the food processor, press into a disc, wrap it in parchment and put it in the fridge. Repeat. If you refrigerate the pie dough for more than 15 or 20 minutes, you’ll need to let it soften up a little on the counter before you roll it.

Next, make the filling. Drain the cherries, reserving the liquid. Place 1/2 cup of that liquid in a separate, lidded jar. In a sauce pan, combine the remaining liquid, sugar, cinnamon and kirsch or extract over medium heat, bring it to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves and it begins to simmer. Meanwhile, add the cornstarch to the jar of juice, cover and shake well. Pour the cornstarch slurry into the boiling mixture, turn down the heat and and whisk until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat, fold in the cherries and add lemon. Stir in the butter until it melts. Let it cool to room temperature while you roll out the pie dough. Warm filling will really mess with a lattice crust, in particular.

Ready a 9-inch pie pan. With a floured rolling pin, roll out one disc of dough several inches larger than the diameter of the pan and gently lift and press it in place. Fill it with the cherry filling. Roll the second disc to roughly the same size. If you choose to make a lattice top, I recommend searching for a video. I sort of like to freehand it, but for a tidier look, build the crust on parchment and lift it onto the pie. Pinch the edges all the way around and crimp them. Brush the pie with beaten egg. Place on a sheet pan to catch any extra filling and bake for 20 minutes, before turning 180 degrees, and, if it’s getting too brown, tenting it gently with foil. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until you can see the cherry filling bubbling around the edges. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

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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. 

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If you grew up in Alaska, then you probably have a soft spot for Tang, which is a pretty Alaskatastic drink. (I have a soft spot, hence the name of this column.) Born from the mind of prolific and influential mid-century food chemist William A. Mitchell, the drink mix, which packs 100 percent of your daily value of vitamin C, really took off when John Glenn took it to space in 1962. In Alaska, where flow-in produce was expensive, it soon became ubiquitous because of its practicality, nutritional value, and portability. It has long been associated with the Iditarod, with several mushers serving as Tang spokespeople. Adventurer Joe Redington Sr. even had a dog named Tang. Hot, spiced Tang, also known as “Russian tea,” is still served along the trail.

Around the same time that Tang became a thing, Mitchell also invented Cool Whip, a whipped topping that traveled well, lasted longer than cream, and traveled frozen. It also made a lot of sense in Alaska. (Its older cousin, Dream Whip, which came as a shelf stable powder, was also used in lots of Alaska’s mid-century recipes.) Tang pie combined these two trendy, relatively shelf-stable, scientifically derived foods into a modern-seeming dessert that didn’t take women very long to whip up.

For this Drinks issue of Edible Alaska, I decided to re-make a Tang pie recipe without Cool Whip, and it turned out way more delicious than I expected, with an airy texture and a spot-on nostalgic creamsicle taste. I dusted it with some powdered freeze-dried raspberries for an extra glow-up. It became the unexpected queen of the pie table.

While testing recipes, I also tried making a version of this pie with eggs, custard-style, subbing Tang into a recipe for Atlantic Beach pie, which is an East Coast citrus pie in a saltine crust. It was a very close second, but I decided it strayed too far from the original. This Tang pie recipe was also quicker, requiring the crust to be baked for only 7 minutes. If you use a store-bought crust, it’s about as fast as whipping cream. One cool substitution you could try, borrowing from Atlantic Beach pie, is a sleeve of saltine crumbs instead of Graham crackers in the crust. The crust recipe is the same, just bake it for twice as long. It adds a perfect amount of salty crunch.

Originally published in Edible Alaska issue no. 34,  Winter 2024.  Subscribe!

Alaska Tang Pie

Makes 1 pie

Ingredients:

For the Pie

• 1 Graham cracker pie crust (recipe follows)
• Tang-flavored filling (recipe follows)
• Vanilla whipped cream topping (recipe follows)
• ¼ cup freeze-dried raspberries, for garnish

For the Crust

• 1 sleeve Graham crackers, finely crushed ( about ½ cup)
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• ⅓ cup white sugar

For the filling

• 4 teaspoons cold water
• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) heavy whipping cream, cold
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• ¼ cup powdered Tang
• ½ cup sour cream

For the Topping

• ¾ cup whipping cream
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ⅓ cup powdered sugar

(Freeze dried raspberries to garnish)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Make the crust. In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, softened butter, and sugar. Mix by hand into a paste-like consistency. Press into an 8-inch pie pan so it evenly covers the bottom and sides. Place in the freezer for 5−10 minutes. Bake for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven.

Make the filling. In a small, microwavable bowl, mix water and gelatin and set aside for 5 minutes, until gelatin blooms. Then microwave the bowl for 10 seconds. The gelatin should go from a gel to a clear liquid. Add whipping cream, vanilla, and sugar to the bowl of a standing mixer and whip on high. As the cream is beginning to thicken, add the gelatin. Whip until the cream forms firm peaks. In a large bowl, place condensed milk, cream, and Tang. Mix to combine. Then fold in sour cream. Mix until totally combined and smooth. Place the filling into the crust and spread it evenly. Refrigerate pie for at least 6 hours to set.

When ready to serve, make the whipped topping. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Plop it in the center of the pie, and spread it outward evenly. For the garnish, put the raspberries in a medium mesh sieve. Holding the sieve over the top of the pie, rub the raspberries back and forth, grating them into a fine magenta powder that decorates the whipped cream topping.

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Traditional fish pie—like many dishes in England—is made very simply, with white fish like pollock and sometimes smoked fish like haddock, a simple cream sauce, boiled egg, and parsley. Stein has a number of pie recipes, including one topped with mashed potato and made with heavy cream that’s pretty great. I was drawn to his simple “quick fish pie” recipe from his book, Simple Suppers. Made with store-bought puff pastry on top, it’s both beautiful and fast to pull together for a dinner party. If you can’t find puff pastry, you can substitute a store-bought or homemade pie crust.

What I liked about this recipe most was the smoky, rich sauce. Stein used smoked haddock to flavor the pie and started the sauce by poaching the haddock in milk to steep in that smoky flavor. I adapted the recipe to fish that’s easy for Alaskans to get their hands on and used a very salty, smoky salmon strip instead, which worked great. You could also use regular smoked salmon or, if you have it, a little smoked black cod. Stein uses boiled eggs in his pies, which I skipped due to the pickiness of my young pie eaters, but I did add peas, because they say “fish pie” to me.

British-style fish pie

Serves 6 – 8

Ingredients:

Butter for the pan

2½ cups whole milk

½ large white onion

4 cloves

1 bay leaf

1¾ pounds white fish, like halibut or cod

3 ounces smoked salmon strips, skins cut off, or 3 ounces smoked salmon, skin removed

1 cup frozen peas

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 ounces sharp English Cheddar, grated

⅓ cup chopped parsley

2 teaspoons white wine or vermouth

Pinch of nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

1 8-ounce sheet store-bought puff pastry, thawed

1 tablespoon of milk to glaze

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400° F. In a 4- to 6-quart pot, place the milk, the onion studded with the cloves, the bay leaf, white fish, and smoked salmon. Bring the milk to a bubble, turn it down to a simmer, and allow the fish to poach for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the fish and the other solids. Discard the onion and bay leaf. Crumble the fish and arrange it inside a buttered 9-inch pie pan. Sprinkle the frozen peas on top. Set aside. Whisk the yolks and cornstarch in a small bowl. Whisking constantly, ladle some of the warm milk into the egg mixture. Then scrape that mixture back into the pan full of poaching liquid and return to medium heat.

Add wine or vermouth, allow mixture to boil gently for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. The sauce should thicken to a warm pudding texture. Add cheese, parsley, and nutmeg. Stir until cheese is melted, remove from the heat, taste, adjust salt and pepper. Pour over the fish in the pie pan. Roll out the puff pastry sheet so that it is at least an inch larger than the pan on all sides. Carefully place it on top of the pie, tuck it under the lip of the pan, press the edges with a fork, and trim excess. Prick the top a few times to let out the steam. Brush it with milk. Place the pie on a sheet pan to catch any overflow, and slide into the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until it’s golden and puffed. Serve right away.

This recipe was originally published in Edible Alaska.

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A few notes. You can use any unbaked pie crust. I used my own salted butter crust but I changed up the method a little to get way more flake. Using the same ingredients, I pulsed the food processor instead of letting it run, and I left the chunks of butter bigger than a pea, some of them even as big as two peas. I added the liquid to the crust, pulsed once, and then dumped it on parchment paper when it was still crumbly. Then, I pressed it together and rolled it out into a rectangle about the size of a novel, then I folded it in half and rolled it back into the same-size rectangle. I folded it again, rounded out the edges so it made a disc, and tossed it in the fridge for a couple minutes. This method kind of laminates the dough, a little like a croissant, and you’ll notice the difference.

This recipe calls for butter and cream. If you’re trying to lighten it up a little, you can use milk with no problem. If you’re going dairy-free, you might try oat milk and vegan butter. You can also reduce the sweetener by a quarter cup. There’s also the treasure hunt for ube, which is a purple yam. You can sometimes find it at New Sagaya Midtown or other Asian markets in the produce section or grated, in the freezer section. You can also use purple sweet potato or Okinawan sweet potato for this recipe, which are both pretty frequently at Fred Meyer and sometimes at Safeway in the sweet potato bin. If you use frozen grated ube, cook by covering it with water in a microwave-safe bowl and then cooking on high for 3 to 4 minutes, so it becomes soft. Don’t forget to drain. About 1 1/2 cups cream, whipped with three tablespoons of powdered sugar and a little vanilla, will give you enough for a healthy dollop of cream on each piece.

Ube pie

Serves 10

Ingredients:

1 pound, skin-on ube/purple yam or purple sweet potato

1 stick salted butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup cream

2 eggs

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

Whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg to serve.

Method: Put sweet potatoes/ube in a pot and cover with water, boil over medium heat for about 45-50 minutes, until very tender. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove from the potatoes heat, drain, allow to cool enough to be handled. Peel them or scoop out soft meat. You should have roughly 2 cups of potato/yam.

In a blender or with a mixer, combine potato/yam, soft butter, sweeteners, cream, egg, spice, vanilla and salt. Mix until smooth. Pour into an unbaked pie crust. Bake for 55 minutes, or until set in the middle. It will rise and then fall a bit. Allow to cool completely before dressing with whipped cream. Sprinkle it with freshly grated nutmeg.

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This is a secret, grown-up, pre-holiday holiday we like to call Pie First. My Uncle Tommy invented it. We should all thank him.

So you eat that pie slice, standing in the darkened kitchen, listening to the music of the running dishwasher, under the light on the stove. Maybe have half a glass of wine, too. Just take a minute for your damn self. And, don’t say anything unless someone asks. (They never ask!)

My favorite Pie First pie lately, one I’ve eaten many times on a dark holiday eve, is a nog custard pie. Growing up, my family had a long tradition of raucous holiday parties with serious noggage. My grandparents started it and my parents kept it up—using a recipe that involved cream, whipped egg whites, Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, and lots of nutmeg. This pie captures all of its flavors with less of a hangover.

For years, I used Melissa Clark’s maple custard pie recipe, but that morphed into a slightly lighter pie with a boozy twist. I also sometimes sub birch syrup for maple or go half and half. Maple tends to have a little stronger flavor. Last year I spent Thanksgiving with friends in Connecticut and we bought custard pie from Blackberry River Bistro in Canaan. They used honey in theirs and did a cool half powdered sugar design on the top that I loved and copied in this recipe.

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup maple or birch syrup or a mix
• ¼ cup spiced rum, bourbon, or brandy, divided
• 2 cups cream
• 2 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped, or 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Generous pinch of sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg plus more for garnish
• 1 pie crust, pre-baked and cooled
• Powdered sugar for garnish (optional)
• Whipped cream, to serve

Method: Preheat the oven to 300° F. In a small saucepan, combine syrup or syrups and half of the alcohol over medium heat, bring to a boil, and simmer for 3 minutes or so to reduce and cook off the alcohol. Remove from heat and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.

In another bowl, gently whisk together cream, eggs, and yolks, vanilla bean, nutmeg, the rest of the alcohol, and salt. Slowly pour the syrup mixture into the egg mixture while whisking. Easy whisking here—don’t whisk so vigorously that the mixture bubbles.

When the mixture is combined, pour it through a fine mesh sieve into the pie crust. Generously sprinkle with ground nutmeg. Bake it for 55 minutes or until the center is jiggly but set. Allow to cool. If you want, cover half the pie with a paper towel and shake some powdered sugar through a sieve on the other half. Serve with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

This recipe originally appeared in Edible Alaska Issue No. 26, Winter 2022. 

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There are many versions of this fresh berry pie floating around in Alaska’s recipe boxes. The basics of mine are: a pre-baked salty butter crust, fresh berries tossed with a sweet gel made with cornstarch, topped with maple-cointreau whipped cream.

You can adjust the recipe to use just about any kind of Alaska berry. With a softer berry, like raspberries or akpiks, use more cornstarch and expect them to fall apart more. With a heartier berry, like a blueberry or coastal Alaska salmonberries, you can use less. Generally, it’s good to use lemon juice and zest unless you are using strawberries, which tend to be pretty acidic.

And, you want to reduce the sugar just a touch for sweeter berries, and increase a little for the tart ones. This is a recipe for store-bought blueberries, for example, but with tart, wild bloobs, I recommend adding a little more sugar (see ingredients). For the liquid in the pie, you might decrease just a little if the berries are pretty juicy or increase just a touch if they’re drier. You can sub in orange, apple or pomegranate juice for the water, but reduce the sugar by about one-third.

I use a food processor because it’s really great for making pie crust and it helps make it so your pie gel doesn’t get lumpy. You can absolutely make the crust by hand and crush the berries in a bowl and whisk in the cornstarch.

A note on whipped cream: DON’T WHIP IT TOO MUCH. This pie is best when topped with a pillow of soft, not-too-sweet whipped cream, so keep an eye on it when you’re beating it.

And one last note on pre-baking crust wrapped in foil. It works. But: if you want to line the unbaked pie crust with parchment and fill it with dry beans or pie weights like a traditionalist, go for it.

Fresh berry pies with salted butter crust and maple cream

Ingredients:

Salted butter crust:

One stick salted butter

One cup flour

½ tsp sea salt

2-3 tablespoons ice cold water or vodka

Strawberry filling:

5 cups strawberries hulled and chopped into quarters

¾ cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup water

Zest of one lemon

Blueberry filling:

5 cups blueberries

Zest and juice of one lemon (decrease juice by half for wild berries)

½ cup sugar (unless using wild blueberries, then increase to ¾)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 cup water

Maple cream:

½ pint heavy whipping cream,

½ teaspoon vanilla,

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon cointreau (optional)

Method:

For the salted-butter crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse butter, salt and flour to form a fine meal. Drizzle cold water or vodka into the running processor until the dough begins to coalesce. Remove from the food processor form into a ball, place in a plastic baggie and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes. On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll out the crust and then situate it in a 9-inch pie pan, folding the rough edges under and crimping them. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Next, cover the crust carefully with foil, pressing it to fit, and wrap it over the crimped edges, pressing it gently to fit around them, and tuck under the edges of the pan. This will keep your crust from slipping while it bakes. If you have time, freeze for 10 minutes. Place it in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes more. Remove when the edges are just turning golden.

For strawberry filling: Add one cup of berries, sugar, water, cornstarch to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well combined. (You can also mash ingredients together in a bowl). Place that mixture in a small saucepan with the lemon zest on medium heat. Allow it to boil and then stir it carefully as it thickens, darkens and turns translucent. Fold it in with the fresh, hulled berries. Pour the mixture into your pre-baked crust and allow to cool before you top with whipped cream to serve.

For blueberry filling: And one cup of berries, sugar, water, lemon juice, and cornstarch to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well combined. (You can also mash ingredients together in a bowl). Place that mixture in a small saucepan with the lemon zest on medium heat. Allow it to boil and then stir it carefully until it thickens, darkens and turns translucent. Fold it in with the fresh berries. Pour the mixture into your pre-baked crust and allow to cool before you top with whipped cream and serve.

For the maple-orange whipped cream: In the bowl of a mixer, whip heavy cream, vanilla, maple syrup and cointreau just until soft peaks begin to form. Spoon on top of the cooled berry pie to serve.

You can also find this recipe in the Anchorage Daily News.

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Maybe you have a grilled cheese or an omelet, but that’s not what you’ve been thinking about since you walked in. You’ve been thinking about what’s inside the humming refrigerated case by the register. Pie. There’s always a coconut cream and a chocolate, each made with Jell-O pudding and Cool Whip. Oh, and cherry, with jewel-toned filling from a can. And maybe, if you’re lucky, there’s blueberry, with berries picked nearby, tart and inky, gelled up with cornstarch or pearls of tapioca.

I’ve been working for years on a recipe for a pie that has that roadhouse feel but with a smooth, firm blueberry custard that makes it feel also like a pudding pie. I tried making a curd and added blueberries to every sort of lemon custard recipe. I couldn’t get the pie firm enough. I tried more eggs and cornstarch. I considered gelatin sheets that I’d have to order online. Then I arrived with another soupy blueberry-lemon pie (a riff on a Chez Panisse lemon pie recipe that took me two hours) to a family gathering. My mom brought her usual lemon pie, made with pudding mix and bodacious meringue. And it hit me: What is more like a roadhouse pie than one that combines local blueberries with a shelf-stable pantry ingredient like lemon pudding? And so I invited my mom over and we tried it. And it was just right.

FOR THE CRUST

• 1 stick unsalted butter, cold
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1–3 tablespoons cold vodka, water, or apple juice

FOR THE FILLING

• 1 4.3-ounce package cook-and-serve, lemon Jell-O pudding
• 1½ cups wild Alaska blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 2 cups water
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

FOR THE MERINGUE

• 5 egg whites, room temperature
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 7 tablespoons sugar
• (For more dramatic meringue, add 1–3 additional whites. Per white, increase 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1½ teaspoons sugar.)

Preheat the oven to 350° F. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse butter, flour, and salt until they form a fine meal. With the blade running, drizzle the cold vodka/water/juice in until the dough coalesces into a ball. Remove from the processor and roll out with a floured rolling pin on a floured piece of parchment paper until it’s roughly 12 inches in diameter. Flip the parchment onto a 9-inch pie pan and peel it off the dough. Press the dough into the pan gently and finish the edges. (If you have time, put it in the freezer for 20 minutes.) Place pie weights or a couple of handfuls of dry beans on top of a small piece of parchment in the crust and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the weight and bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove to cool. Leave the oven on.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, whisk egg yolks, ½ cup water, and pudding mix until smooth; add blueberries and remaining 1½ cups of water. Stir, crushing blueberries on the side of the pan, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken. It should be dark purple-blue. Remove from heat, pour it into a sieve over a bowl, press it through to further crush the berries, and remove the solids. Stir the butter into the warm filling. Spread into the crust.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites until they get foamy, then add the cream of tartar. Continue to whip on high speed. When peaks begin to form, add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue whipping until the meringue gets stiff with a texture that’s almost marshmallowy.

Gently spread the meringue on top of the warm pie filling with a small spatula, making small peaks. Spread it to the edges of the crust so it forms a seal. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating once halfway through.

Allow to cool but do not refrigerate. Serve within a few hours of baking. Cut with a buttered knife for perfect slices.

This recipe appeared in Edible Alaska magazine.

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Quick strawberry slab pie

Serves nine, generously

Ingredients:

Pastry:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 sticks salted butter, very cold

2-3 tablespoons ice water

2 tablespoons sugar

Filling:

5 cups fresh strawberries, tops removed, quartered

1 cup white sugar

Juice and zest of one orange

1/4 cup tapioca flour or 3 tablespoons instant tapioca

1 egg, beaten

Method: To make the pastry, put flour, sugar and butter in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse into a fine meal. Drizzle water in the processor as you pulse until dough comes together. Form into a flat rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. When you’re ready to assemble pie, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix berries with sugar, juice, zest and tapioca. Roll out the dough in a square shape. Generously butter a 9-inch square pan. Pour in the berry mixture. Set pastry on top, crimp the edges to close and make vents in the top with a sharp knife in whatever decorative pattern you like. Brush with beaten egg. Bake for 48-55 minutes, until filling is bubbly and top is golden. Allow it to cool completely before slicing. Allow filling to set overnight for maximum firmness.

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This is a basic tart recipe that can be used to make any patterned tart. The pie itself is on the tarter side (see what I did there?). If you know you like your rhubarb sweeter, you can toss the chopped rhubarb with 1/4 cup of sugar, but that will make it a little harder to assemble your geometric pattern. I have found the easiest way to make a pattern is to use a ruler to keep the pieces uniform, and to make the shapes out of pieces that are chopped from the same stalk so they are about the same diameter. Arranging them beforehand is also key. You can see mine’s a little imperfect.

Geometric rhubarb tart

Serves 6

For the crust:

One stick or 1/2 cup cold butter

1 1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1-2 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:

One 8-ounce package cream cheese

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons honey

5- to 6-foot-long stalks rhubarb (comes out to roughly 4 cups, chopped)

Method: To make the crust, put butter, sugar and flour in the bowl of a food processor and pulse into a fine meal. With the blade running, drizzle the ice water in until the mixture forms a ball. Press the dough into a 9-inch tart pan and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, egg and almond extract until smooth. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take a piece of rhubarb and, using a ruler, cut on the bias, roughly 1.25-inch long, and arrange in a tight triangle (or other shape, depending). Adjust the size of the pieces until they fit snugly together. That will serve as your template. Cut the rest of the rhubarb, using the ruler, and arrange the rhubarb on a cutting board the way you’d arrange it on top of the tart. You’ll end up adjusting the size of the stalks around the edges to fill in to the sides of the rounded crust. Remove the tart crust from the freezer and spread in the filling. Arrange the rhubarb on top of the filling in whatever pattern you’ve chosen. Microwave 2 tablespoons of honey for 10 seconds. Generously brush the rhubarb and top of tart with the honey. Place in oven and bake for 40 minutes. Heat the remaining honey in the microwave for 10 seconds and brush the tart again immediately after you pull it from the oven. Allow it to cool completely before you slice it.

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