Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Begin by making the crust. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour to ensure that there are no lumps. Add in the salt and mix together with a whisk. Next, cube your butter and add it to the flour mixture. With your hands, incorporate the butter into the flour by squeezing it with your fingers. Keep going until you achieve a sand like consistency.

Next, slowly incorporate the cold water. Still using your hands, combine all the ingredients together, knead until you achieve a smooth dense dough.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours (or overnight). What I love about this dough, is that you can make it ahead of time and keep it in the freezer until you are ready to use it. Just let it thaw in the fridge overnight the day before.

While the dough is chilling in the fridge, you can prepare the filling.

Roughly chop up your rhubarn and strawberries so that they are in chunks. Add them both to a small sauce pan. Cook them on medium-high heat until they begin to soften. Add the sugar and stir, cooking until the sugar has melted. In the meantime, mix together the cornstarch with the cold water in a separate bowl. Stir until the cornstarch has disintegrated with no lumps. Pour the cornstach liquid into the strawberry-rhubarb mixture and cook until it starts to thicken. Remove from the heat. Your mixture should be a soft jam like consistency with some chunks of strawberry and rhubarb.

When your dough has chilled, remove it from the fridge and split it into two pieces. One slightly bigger than the other. Use the larger for the base of the pie and the smaller as the dough used to create the top.

Using a rolling pin, roll out your base dough on a well floured work surface.

Prepare your pie dish by buttering it with a thin coat of butter (I usually just use a small square of the butter wrapper and grease the sides of my pan with it). Next, dust the thin layer of butter with a bit of flour, making sure to tap out any excess.

When you are rolling out your dough, you want it to be big enough to completely cover your pie pan as well as the sides. Don't worry about any excess, this can easily be removed. Roll the dough out so that it is about 3-4mm thick. Place it over the pie dish making sure to gently press it down into the pan forming the shape of the bottom crust.

If the dough is too big and surpasses the edges, simply roll your rolling pin along the edge of the pie shell and the excess dough will easily be cut away. Save any excess dough for the top of the pie. Use your fingers to pinch along the edge of the pie shell to create a more decorative border.

Next, use a fork to poke small holes into the bottom of the crust. This will ensure no bubbles will form while baking and will allow some of the juices to penetrate making it extra tasty.

With the help of a spatula, pour in your prepared pie mixture overtop the shell and spread it out evenly.

Next, prepare the other half of the dough to decorate the top. I choose to do a chunky lattice design for this one, but you can choose how you would like to do it. This is one of my favorite parts to do as it really gives the pie its personality. You can get great ideas by going on Pinterest or by simply letting your creativity go wild.

Preheat your oven to 425F.

Once you have your pie finished, I like to paint the top with a thin layer of egg wash. This simply will give your crust a wonderfully golden shiny crust.

Stick your pie into the oven on the center rack and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and flaky.

Remove from the oven and let cool for at least half an hour before serving. This pie is wonderful served warm or cold. Serve it with a sprinkle of icing sugar or with a dollop of whipped cream or scoop of icecream.

Enjoy!