I’m not quiet about the fact that I love rhubarb. At this time of year, I want to use its forced, ruby-red stalks in just about everything: currently, I have a 2kg box ready to be cooked down into jam, the syrup reserved for cordial and jellies, some of the stalks chopped and ready to be folded into a cake batter or pie filling, plus a little held over to poach for my breakfast. Today’s pie is slightly different from an American one – the pastry is short and sweet, rather than salty and flaky, and, for ease, I bake it in a shallow, round casserole dish and serve it straight from that with some cold cream.
Rhubarb and apple pie
Prep 30 min
Chill 1 hr
Cook 50 min
Serves 8
For the pastry
280g plain flour
140g cold unsalted butter
½ tsp salt
80g golden caster sugar
3 egg yolks, plus one whole egg for egg-washing
Demerara sugar, for sprinkling
For the filling
400g bramley apples, peeled and cut into 3cm cubes
190g caster sugar
200g rhubarb, cut into 3cm chunks
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
½ tsp almond extract
20g cornflour
For the pastry, put everything apart from the eggs and demerara in a stand mixer and mix on a low speed until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks and mix again until it comes together into a dough; be careful not to overwork it. Flatten the dough into a rough circle, then wrap it and chill for at least an hour.
Meanwhile, put all the filling ingredients bar the cornflour in a bowl and mix, massaging the sugar into the fruit so the flavours meld and macerate.
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Take the dough out of the fridge for 10 minutes to soften, and butter a 26cm round pie dish or tart ring (I used a shallow casserole, which worked very well). Roll out two-thirds of the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 4-5mm thick and lay it over the buttered dish, pressing it into the edges and leaving a little overhang. Remove any excess dough with a rolling pin or sharp knife.
Stir the cornflour into the fruit mixture until it is well incorporated, then tip the lot into the pastry base.
Roll out the remaining pastry to the same thickness as the base. Brush egg over the edges of the pastry in the dish and carefully place the lid on top. Seal all around the edges by pushing the two together gently.
Pierce a small slit in the centre of the top of the pie, to let steam out while it bakes, then paint the lid all over with egg wash. Sprinkle on the demerara sugar, then bake for about 50 minutes, until golden brown. Remove the pie from the oven, leave it to rest for 20 minutes, then cut into portions and serve warm with cold cream or custard.
