When Rhubarb Met Strawberry
When I first heard about the combo of my beloved rhubarb with strawberry, my reaction was:
“I just want rhubarb”.
I’ve been told that I’m a bit of a purist (not to be confused with Puritan) when it comes to traditional recipes and more experimental fusion baking, if you will. Because Quer Bake is based on food from back home in Ireland that I miss; a lot of the time I do base my recipes around my nostalgic memories of growing up in Ireland. But I’m also surprised learning about my own family history and what ingredients they used and what baking they did, which I am slowly uncovering.
The Rhublurb
Back to the rhubarb. My granda in Augher (County Tyrone) looked after the village community garden. I remember a lot of rhubarb being pulled there. When rhubarb is in season in Ireland (in wet, wild gardens everywhere) it grows like crazy, so there was never any shortage of rhubarb. I remember my mum stewing it, the pungeant smell, the surprising sweet tangy taste, the tongue-drying sensation (rhubarb tannins!) and the amazing rhubarb pies and crumbles of my childhood.
So, when I came across rhubarb at a pop-up grocers on my street, the first thing I wanted to make (having lived rhubarb-less in Barcelona for 15 years) was a purist rhubarb pie! However, the strawberries in Barcelona at this time of the year are so plentiful, and the harmony of rhubarb and strawberry is so…flawless, that I decided to make this recipe.
Equipment You’ll Need
- A 20-22cm diameter pie dish
- Medium sized mixing bowls with lids, preferably stainless steel
- A large wooden spoon for stirring your rhubarb and strawberries
- A big non-stick or enamelware pot for stewing the rhubarb
Quer Bake Rhubarb and Strawberry Pie Recipe
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Ingredients
- For the Rhubarb and Strawberry Filling
500g Rhubarb, cut into 2cm or inch thick pieces
350g Strawberries, cut into quarters
2 Dessertspoons Brown Sugar
1 Dessertspoon White Sugar
1 Dessertspoon Cornflour
Pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda
- For the Slightly Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
255g Plain white flour
4 Teaspoons white sugar
Pinch of salt
140g Salted Butter (cold, cut into cubes)
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla essence mixed into 10 teaspoons of cold water
2 Tablespoons cold milk, for brushing
Directions
- In an enamelware or non-stick pan, add a splash of water then the rhubarb, strawberry, dessertspoon of white and brown sugar, pinch of bicarb of soda. Mix well with a wooden spoon and leave to stew on a low to medium heat.
- When the stew starts to get juicy, in a separate cup add the dessertspoon of cornflour, then with a ladle, transfer about a quarter ladle of the juice into the cup, mix well and tip into the pan to thicken.
- After 10 minutes when the stew is at a soft consistency, add the last dessertspoon of brown sugar to taste. Tip the stew onto a plate and set aside to cool.
- For the pastry, in a large bowl add flour, sugar and salt. Rub in the cold butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Spoon in 10 teaspoons of cold water with vanilla and use a flat knife to scrape it roughly into the dough.
- Using cold hands, start to pack the dough together into a ball until you have a smooth dough ball in your bowl. Cover the bowl and put it in your fridge for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200C, place your pie dish in the freezer ready to receive the pastry. Take out your dough ball and cut it at just over half, to two thirds, with a flat knife. Return the smaller half to the fridge as before.
- On a lightly floured surface, start to shape and round your larger half with your hands, pressing and shaping to remove cracks until it is about a palm width. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, start to roll out the pastry, turning at quarter turns every few seconds to avoid sticking.
- When your pastry circle comes out about 2cm or an inch more than your pie dish diametre, place the dish nearby and with your roller, flip the pastry over it to carefully lift into your cold pie dish. Let the pastry slide into the dish without folds forming. With your fingers, gently push and firm around the edges, then run a finger gently round the inside of the bottom to smooth it. Prick the bottom of the pie gently and return to the freezer until you have the smaller half of pastry rolled out.
- Repeat step 7 until your pastry circle comes to the same size as your pie dish. Take out the pie dish and using a silicone brush or your finger, brush the edge of the pie with cold milk. Tip your cold rhubarb and strawberry stew into the pie, then repeating step 8, lift the pastry onto your pie and join the edges with your fingers. Dip your thumbs into flour to add a squiggle crust around the edges of your pie. Brush the top of the pie lightly with milk, and prick the top of the pie, ready for baking.
- Bake your pie in the preheated oven at 200C (180C Fan-assisted) for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack with a teatowel over, to cool.
Did you try my Rhubarb and Strawberry Pie Recipe? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!
