02 Apr Maple Rhubarb Pie
Today I share a piece of my heart with an adapted Rhubarb pie recipe my grandmother made for me when I was a little girl. I’ve always loved pie, and I especially love my grandma’s pies. My grandma is an avid gardener often has more rhubarb than she knows what to do with late in the Colorado summer. Luckily this meant lots of rhubarb pie for us as kids! As a girl I would freely and shamelessly call my grandmother up before coming over and request: “Oooo! Grandma make a pie!” One of my saddest realizations with eating gluten free is that I wouldn’t be able to partake in a much-loved family treat, so of course I set out to create a version I could enjoy!
The stalks of rhubarb growing in my grandmother’s garden would be a few fingers thick and hold the most beautiful umbrella leaves. The pinkest stalks were always my favorite and over time I learned that they are also the sweetest. The leaf of the rhubarb plant is toxic, so you will never see it in a grocery store, you will only find the stalks which have already had the leafs cut from them. The thick rosy stalks are the ones you want; the greener, smaller ones will be good too, just more tart.
I am always surprised at how few people know about and like rhubarb. Rhubarb pie has been one of my favorite things for as long as I can remember, so I often go around assuming everyone knows about and loves it too. The fact is, very few people know about it, fewer cook with it and fewer still actually like it! In my humble opinion, rhubarb is worth knowing about so I have made it my personal mission to make sure my family loves rhubarb (or at least rhubarb pie!). I am happy to report that I have made progress on this front with my nieces and nephews here in Austin. Admittedly, they weren’t a hard sell – I think the last rhubarb pie I made everyone lasted all of ten minutes after it was brought to the table.
I realize pastry can be intimidating to take on, especially gluten free pastry. For the recipe you find here, I am going to recommend a back of the package recipe from THIS Pamela’s flour blend. I am not getting any kick backs for this recommendation, it is just one that is simple and works well – not easy to come by. If and when I improve on a pie pastry recipe I will post it here, but for now, this is my favorite. It is butter, shortening (both, I know!), GF flour mix, ice water and salt. I used a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to bring it together. Use my recommendation for pie pastry, use your own favorite recipe for pastry, purchase premade dough, or just straight up buy a GF crust that works for you! All will do fine by the rhubarb.
I called my grandma for her recipe the first time I tried to make this rhubarb pie, and the recipe you find here is the refined efforts that started with my scribbled notes from that phone call. When making the pie I thought it only right to turn on some country music (my grandma’s favorite) while I made it. Everything about the experience made me feel like home. Since my readership extends to my family in Colorado (Hi Grandma!) – here’s one I’m writing home about, with love.
Maple Rhubarb Pie
- Category: Dessert, Gluten Free, Sugar Free
Ingredients
- 4 c Rhubarb, diced
- 3/4 c Maple Syrup
- 1 Egg, beaten
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 1 tbsp. Coconut sugar (optional)
- 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon (optional)
- 2 tbsp. Butter, to dot surface before adding top pastry (optional)
- Pie pastry, see headnote
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare pie pastry and divide dough into two balls. While the dough it still cold so it holds together better, roll dough out into a large circle between two pieces of wax or parchment paper. Once the ball is rolled out large enough to cover the bottom surface of your pie pan, flip the entire rolled out circle over onto one hand and remove the now exposed piece of parchment. Place dough, centered, over the pie pan and carefully remove the other piece of parchment paper. Cut around the edges of the pie pan to remove extra dough.
- Poke holes into the bottom of the crust with a fork to allow air to escape while cooking and bake the bottom crust for 15 minutes.
- Combine Rhubarb, maple syrup, egg and salt into a bowl and mix well.
- Once bottom crust is finished baking, remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes, then pour rhubarb mixture into the crust. Dot the surface of the rhubarb with butter, if using.
- Turn oven up to 450 degrees F. To make the top crust, repeat method used for bottom crust and place the rolled-out dough over the rhubarb mixture. Cut around the edges of the pie pan with a butter knife to remove extra dough. Press top crust gently into bottom crust around the edges to seal. Slice slits into the top of the pie to vent while baking. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar overtop, if using. Bake pie at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, and then turn down to 375 degrees F for 40-45 minutes. Place a sheet pan under the pie to catch any juices that bubble out of the pie.
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