How to Make the Sweetest Rhubarb Pie
Torta al rabarbaro
This sweet rhubarb pie recipe is part of my Danish heritage, and thanks to the new Nordic kitchen the frugal plant has been given a deserved revival.
In the Nordic countries rhubarb is an eminent sign of summer. We use it in jams, pickles and savoury dishes. In the fruit pudding ‘rødgrød med fløde’ that’s almost impossible for non-native speakers to pronounce. And in cakes and rhubarb pie recipes like this one. It’s all a matter of eating as much rhubarb as possible over the months when the stalks are in season. At San Giovanni its over, but raw rhubarb can be frozen and used for pies all year round.
Ingredients
For the pastry
225 g flour
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tbsp sugar
125 g butter
1 egg
Powdered sugar for dusting
For the filling
500 g fresh rhubarbs
350 g sugar
1 vanilla pod
Preparation
Clean the rhubarbs, chop them in 1 cm pieces and boil to a thick jam for 20 minutes with sugar, vanilla pod and a little water to prevent burning.
Rhubarbs contain a lot of acid so make sure to adjust the sugar to taste.
Crumble butter in the mix of flour, salt, sugar and vanilla
Add egg and knead the crumbly dough to a smooth pastry – a little cold water may have to be added
Grease a pie dish with butter
Roll out the dough between two sheets of cling wrap.
Remove one sheet and use the other to place the dough in the pie dish
Remove the other sheet of cling wrap, trim the edges and pick the pastry with a fork
Use the trimmings to cutout hearts that can be used as decoration.
Cover with baking paper filled with dried beans and blind bake at 180 C/350 F for 20 minutes
Bake heart shaped biscuits for 10 minutes
Remove beans and baking paper and fill the pie crust with rhubarb jam
Bake for another 15 minutes.
Powder the heart shaped biscuits with sugar and use them for decoration.
Serve the rhubarb pie with crème fraiche, yoghurt or whipped cream.
I’m crazy for anything with rhubarb in it – but over the top in love with rhubarb pie. It’s still in season here so I should really try that recipe.