May 6, 2011

LEGENDARY RHUBARB PIE

We have a good crop of rhubarb already this year and I picked quite a little pile of it recently.  I fancied doing something slightly different from the usual rhubarb crumble, but not too complicated as I didn’t have much time.

Then I remembered a recipe that a friend gave me years ago.  She got it from her sister-in-law, who lived in Canada for a while.  The implication being that it’s a Canadian recipe, which it may well be as it has cup measurements in it.

It’s called “legendary rhubarb pie”, which is a curious name for a pie and I have no idea what it is about it that’s legendary.  It’s very good, though.

You can actually use virtually any fruit you like.  I have made it with plums, apricots, gooseberries and apples in the past and all worked well.

rhubarb 3   rhubarb 2

As you can see, we had the old trouble with the free-range eggs.  I used the biggest and smallest in the box and it seemed to work ok.

 

 

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I also put in a handful of leftover strawberries I had in the fridge that were looking slightly tired, as they usually make a nice combination with rhubarb.

Basically, you make or buy a pastry case, fill it with fruit, make a sugary sponge topping to pour over and bake.  On this occasion I used a pack of ready-rolled pastry that I found in the  freezer.  It was ok but it is better with home-made, I think.rhubarb 5 rhubarb 6 In any case, it was lovely and very quick and easy to make, most of the preparation time being in the preparation of the fruit.

Here’s the international recipe for the mysterious and legendary

LEGENDARY RHUBARB PIE

Ingredients

One shortcrust pastry case, either home-made or bought

About 400g rhubarb

2 eggs

1 cup (180g) caster sugar

2 tablespoons (50g) butter or margarine

1 tablespoon (25g) plain flour

grated nutmeg (optional)

*weights give are my rough estimates for the cup measurements but they seem to work

 Method

Preheat the oven to 200ºC

Roll out the pastry to line a tart tin or pie dish

Prepare the fruit by washing and cutting into 2cm pieces

Arrange the fruit in the case.  Concentric circles look nice. 

(The pie looks just as good if you just tumble the fruit into the case and spread it out a bit.)

Combine the other ingredients in a medium bowl until a smooth, thick batter is formed.  Pour this evenly over the fruit.

Bake at 200ºC for 10 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 180ºC and continue to bake for 30-40 minutes until nicely brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a while before serving to allow for more setting.

Serve warm or  cold with cream, ice cream, custard or just by itself.

Serves 6

*You can also use plums, peaches, nectarines or apricots or a combination, in which case wash the fruit, remove stones if possible and arrange cut side down in the pastry case.  Apples and pears should be peeled, cored and cut into thick wedges, which look nice arranged in overlapping circles.  Gooseberries should be top and tailed and washed so take a bit longer to prepare.  You could sprinkle a few sliced almonds on top before baking, or add a little cinnamon to the mixture.  Anything seems to work with this recipe so use your imagination !

3 comments:

  1. That sound delicious Jean I will try it out when I have rhubarb to spare. The cherries are now ripening fast so I want to make more cherry and rhubarb jam :-) Diane

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  2. Certainly one for the gluten free variation, Jean!Pastry made with gluten free flour is very light (it's impossible to roll out; you just put it in the pie dish and press it into shape)and there is so little in the sponge topping that using gluten free won't make any difference. Just need our new rhubarb crowns to grow sufficiently to be able to pick some! Will report back...

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  3. We brought some rhubarb back with us from LP-P so I'll try it out this weekend and let you know.

    Bang goes the regime for another week!

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