After my cousin Larry mentioned that he loves rhubarb pie, I figured that I should try some more rhubarb pie recipes while the vegetable was still in season. I decided to try a recipe I found on The Splendid Table for a Sour Cream Rhubarb Pie with a crumb topping. (The recipe is from Butter Baked Goods by Rosie Daykin, a cookbook I happen to own. But I demoted it to the overflow cookbooks kept in the guest bedroom and the home office since I have hardly used it.)
Even though there is a crust recipe included as part of the rhubarb pie recipe, I didn't want to take any chances and decided to use make Stella Parks' Old-Fashioned Flaky Pie Crust. Stella's recipe yields two crusts, which worked out perfectly -- because I had enough rhubarb to make two pies. I par-baked the crusts and let them cool before filling them. You put chopped rhubarb into the crust; pour over a mixture of sugar, flour, salt, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla; and bake the pie at 400 degrees for 10 minutes before lowering the temperature to 350 and baking it for another half hour. Then you pull the pie out of the oven; sprinkle on a crumb topping made from sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and butter; and put the pie back in the oven until the topping is browned. My crumbs all melted together in the oven to create a solid layer on top of the rhubarb, although some of the pink rhubarb juices bubbled up through it.
Because I had two pies, I gave one to my friend Dorothy, whose younger son happened to be playing in a Little League playoff game at a park a few blocks away from my house. I thought it would be easier if I cut up the pie before dropping it off at the park, so that Dorothy wouldn't have to deal with trying to slice it. The pie was still quite warm when I cut into it and the slices weren't holding their shape all that well; the crust wasn't entirely firm (which is the reason I took the photo below while the pie was still in the pan). I wrapped up the droopy pie slices on a disposable bakery tray and dropped it off at the park.
Later that afternoon I dropped off the second pie, still entirely intact and just barely warm, at my cousin Larry's house. He cut into it while I was there and the crust on his pie was definitely more sturdy; the slices held together better. I tried a slice of pie and really liked it. The sour cream gave the filling a nice creaminess and it tempered the tart flavor of the rhubarb (along with all of the sugar). The cinnamon topping was delicious. This was a very good pie, but it wasn't as rhubarb forward as I had been expecting. Both Larry and I agreed that the best part of the pie was the flaky, flavorful crust. This pie was easy to make and I would make it again -- but I would definitely give it sufficient time to cool before serving it!
Recipe: "Sour Cream Rhubarb Pie" from Butter Baked Goods by Rosie Daykin, recipe available here at The Splendid Table; "Old-Fashioned Flaky Pie Crust" by Stella Parks, aka "No-Stress All-Butter Pastry Crust" in Bravetart.
Even though there is a crust recipe included as part of the rhubarb pie recipe, I didn't want to take any chances and decided to use make Stella Parks' Old-Fashioned Flaky Pie Crust. Stella's recipe yields two crusts, which worked out perfectly -- because I had enough rhubarb to make two pies. I par-baked the crusts and let them cool before filling them. You put chopped rhubarb into the crust; pour over a mixture of sugar, flour, salt, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla; and bake the pie at 400 degrees for 10 minutes before lowering the temperature to 350 and baking it for another half hour. Then you pull the pie out of the oven; sprinkle on a crumb topping made from sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and butter; and put the pie back in the oven until the topping is browned. My crumbs all melted together in the oven to create a solid layer on top of the rhubarb, although some of the pink rhubarb juices bubbled up through it.
Recipe: "Sour Cream Rhubarb Pie" from Butter Baked Goods by Rosie Daykin, recipe available here at The Splendid Table; "Old-Fashioned Flaky Pie Crust" by Stella Parks, aka "No-Stress All-Butter Pastry Crust" in Bravetart.
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