Prepare the pie dough: Place egg, vinegar and water into a small bowl and whisk lightly with a fork. Add 2 or 3 ice cubes if making dough on a hot day. Set aside.
Stir flour and salt together in a medium-sized bowl. Add butter, cut into pieces and toss in the flour mixture. Rub the flour and butter together between the tips of your fingers to create small, pea-sized balls.
Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the egg mixture over the butter mixture and stir together. Add 3 additional tablespoons and stir. Bring the dough together by hand. If the dough is too dry, add more egg mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Divide dough into two equal portions, form into discs and cover each separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before use.
Prepare pie: Preheat oven to 350°F.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disc of pie dough to a 12-inch diameter. Transfer to a 10-inch round pie plate and trim excess dough and crimp the edge.
Place rhubarb in pie shell.
In a large liquid measure, whisk the sugar together with salt and flour. Add cream, flavour extracts and eggs. Whisk thoroughly to combine.
Pour the mixture over the rhubarb. Transfer pie plate to lined baking sheet.
Transfer to oven and bake for 50 minutes, rotating the pan at half time. Bake until custard is mostly set, still slightly jiggly at centre. The pie will set as it cools.
Let cool completely before serving and store leftovers in the fridge.
Prepare the pie dough: Place egg, vinegar and water into a small bowl and whisk lightly with a fork. Add 2 or 3 ice cubes if making dough on a hot day. Set aside.
Stir flour and salt together in a medium-sized bowl. Add butter, cut into pieces and toss in the flour mixture. Rub the flour and butter together between the tips of your fingers to create small, pea-sized balls.
Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the egg mixture over the butter mixture and stir together. Add 3 additional tablespoons and stir. Bring the dough together by hand. If the dough is too dry, add more egg mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Divide dough into two equal portions, form into discs and cover each separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before use.
Prepare pie: Preheat oven to 350°F.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disc of pie dough to a 12-inch diameter. Transfer to a 10-inch round pie plate and trim excess dough and crimp the edge.
Place rhubarb in pie shell.
In a large liquid measure, whisk the sugar together with salt and flour. Add cream, flavour extracts and eggs. Whisk thoroughly to combine.
Pour the mixture over the rhubarb. Transfer pie plate to lined baking sheet.
Transfer to oven and bake for 50 minutes, rotating the pan at half time. Bake until custard is mostly set, still slightly jiggly at centre. The pie will set as it cools.
Let cool completely before serving and store leftovers in the fridge.
Rhubarb Custard Pie
5 / 5. 2
A homemade flaky pie dough filled with fresh, tangy rhubarb and a creamy custard filling…
Our RHUBARB CUSTARD PIE is this season’s most scrumptious dessert!
This dessert recipe started with me passing by a farmstead in the country and noticing a little handwritten sign that got my heart pumping, “Fresh Rhubarb!!!”. When the grower crafts a sign for fresh produce with three exclamation marks, I know we’re kindred spirits. I told the young lady I was thinking of making a crisp, a jam, or maybe a pie. When I said ‘pie’, her eyes lit up. “I love RHUBARB CUSTARD PIE.” Interesting. I was thinking more of a classic fruit pie, but I gathered up my purchases and thought, custard pie? Let’s do this.
Before I list the various things we learned making this incredibly perfect homemade pie recipe, how about some additional leads on great rhubarb recipes? Lots of our readers and followers say this RHUBARB CRISP is one of the easiest and tastiest they’ve ever had. We’ve also made a simple RHUBARB CAKE, RHUBARB ICE CREAM, my classic RHUBARB PIE, a freeform RHUBARB GALETTE, and for all the home canners and jam makers out there, this lovely STRAWBERRY-RHUBARB JELLY. Lots of deliciousness in that mix.
Join me now, though, for a lesson on how to make the absolute best RHUBARB CUSTARD PIE, ever!
INGREDIENTS
I always get excited when I set up shots detailing the various ingredients needed to recreate our recipes. Looking down on that barn board surface provided an instant snapshot of what’s to come. With pies, though, I’m always surprised by the simplicity of the gathering. In this case, pie dough, fresh rhubarb and then the eggs, cream, sugar and flavourings for the custard. Could this be any easier? I say nope, pies are like a baking miracle – you don’t need a ton of ingredients, just the right ones.
FRESH RHUBARB
The most important ingredient for this recipe is the fresh rhubarb. RHUBARB is a perennial vegetable plant known for its tart, tangy flavour. It’s most often treated as fruit in culinary applications, and when blended with a sweetening agent like sugar, honey or maple syrup, the flavour softens and mellows. Watch the VIDEO created for this recipe when we explain the vital step of trimming away and discarding the leaves from the rhubarb stalks – they contain oxalic acid, which is not edible. The stalks are tough and have a texture similar to celery. We cut them into ¼-inch pieces for this pie recipe. Working with fresh rhubarb is easy, and you can follow our four cups of rhubarb direction or pull out a kitchen scale and weigh a pound of rhubarb. Caveat: We do not recommend making this recipe with frozen rhubarb as it will be too wet once thawed.
ALL-BUTTER PIE DOUGH
We always say every great pie begins with a great pie dough or crust, and for fruit pies, we always recommend making them with an ALL-BUTTER PIE DOUGH. Click that link for our pie dough recipe post, and yes, there’s a VIDEO for making it too. If you’ve never made pie dough, this is the recipe for you, remembering that practice makes perfect. There’s also an added bonus: our pie crust recipe yields two discs, and you can make it with gluten-free flour too. The pie we’re making only requires one. You can keep the spare disc of dough at the ready to make a second pie as requested. Pie dough can also be frozen and then thawed in the fridge for use the following day.
Rolling the dough into a 12-inch round on a floured surface is easy to do. Then drop the round into a 10-inch pie plate, trim away excess dough and craft a classic crimp around the edge. Lastly, if you’re pressed for time or nervous about making your own dough, you can make this recipe using a store-bought, 10-inch pie crust. Won’t be as flaky as homemade, but it will still work as planned.
FRESH EGGS
This RHUBARB CUSTARD PIE recipe was made using farm-fresh eggs. My neighbour up the street has the happiest bunch of hens you’ve ever seen, and they provide eggs of varying sizes. As with all our recipes, we use large eggs and always have them at room temperature before we begin a recipe. The recipe calls for three eggs, and if using farm-fresh, try to select three of the same size. Love the colour of these eggs, and I think there’s a difference in flavour too.
CUSTARD
Getting the custard mixture right for this pie was this recipe’s “ah-ha” moment. To begin, we whisked the granulated sugar and kosher salt together with three tablespoons of unbleached all-purpose flour. The flour ultimately acts as a thickening agent that activates as the pie is baking. Next comes the 35% cream, AKA whipping cream, plus vanilla extract. All of this helps create that classic custard flavour we were after.
But then we had one little last-minute addition that went in right before the eggs: almond extract. Consider the almond extract this recipe’s secret weapon. Years ago, I discovered that almond is a fabulous flavour pairing with rhubarb, and even that tiny measurement of a ½ teaspoon takes the flavour of this pie from simple to amazing. Last tip on the custard, don’t forget to give it a quick whisk right before you add it to the pie shell.
PIE FILLING
Assembling this pie could not be easier. Once the dough has been shaped into the pie pan, add the rhubarb to the unbaked pie shell. Move the pieces of rhubarb about to create an even layer in the plate. I know, it looks like a lot of rhubarb, but just wait, it kind of shrinks and softens as the pie bakes. Spoiler alert, it also floats to the top of the pie, creating an unexpected layering effect. LOVE.
Final step is to pour the custard over the rhubarb. In the VIDEO I did this slowly because it just looked so luxurious and silky and wonderful; no need to stir. In hindsight, that slow pour may be a brilliant idea as it allowed the custard to fully envelop the filling. Before sending the pie to the oven to bake, place it on a foil or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. During the testing of this recipe, we did not have any bubble-over mishaps, but better safe than sorry.
BAKE
The baking of this custard pie is easy. Because the oven at the cottage is a little wonky and because the kitchen floor is hardly level, we rotated the pie at halftime. This contributed to the pie being cooked evenly, no weeping filling, no burned or over-baked pie crust.
The doneness guide on this is where the centre of the pie is slightly jiggly. We suggest inserting a knife into the centre of the pie. If it comes away with just the tiniest glisten on the blade, the pie is done. Also worth mentioning, the pie will set as it cools.
SERVE
We have included two serving suggestions that involve icing sugar and whipped cream. As we all know, a little garnish makes smiles a little bigger when you serve.
Once the pie is cool, tap a little dusting of icing sugar over the surface and then, after cutting wedges, add a dollop of whipped cream to each plate. We did try one piece with vanilla ice cream, but we just weren’t feeling it. The whipped cream does the trick and pairs perfectly with the custard and tangy rhubarb.
PIN IT!
This scrumptious pie recipe is so amazing, we suggest you PIN it to a favourite dessert or pie board on PINTEREST or BOOKMARK this tab for easy access. SHARE it with friends so they can make it too. We’d also appreciate seeing pics of all the delicious dishes you’re making these days. Use #weekendatthecottage when you post those pics on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks!
RHUBARB CUSTARD PIE is fab! Make it and taste for yourself!
Prepare the pie dough: Place egg, vinegar and water into a small bowl and whisk lightly with a fork. Add 2 or 3 ice cubes if making dough on a hot day. Set aside.
Stir flour and salt together in a medium-sized bowl. Add butter, cut into pieces and toss in the flour mixture. Rub the flour and butter together between the tips of your fingers to create small, pea-sized balls.
Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the egg mixture over the butter mixture and stir together. Add 3 additional tablespoons and stir. Bring the dough together by hand. If the dough is too dry, add more egg mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Divide dough into two equal portions, form into discs and cover each separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before use.
Prepare pie: Preheat oven to 350°F.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disc of pie dough to a 12-inch diameter. Transfer to a 10-inch round pie plate and trim excess dough and crimp the edge.
Place rhubarb in pie shell.
In a large liquid measure, whisk the sugar together with salt and flour. Add cream, flavour extracts and eggs. Whisk thoroughly to combine.
Pour the mixture over the rhubarb. Transfer pie plate to lined baking sheet.
Transfer to oven and bake for 50 minutes, rotating the pan at half time. Bake until custard is mostly set, still slightly jiggly at centre. The pie will set as it cools.
Let cool completely before serving and store leftovers in the fridge.
Until Cottage Season
