Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

The beginning of summer always proves to be extremely busy. With one job ending, another beginning, moving, and visits from parents, I have a lot of blogging to catch up on! Of course, I couldn't stop baking, who doesn't like treats all the time anyways?

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is a family favorite. Simple recipe. Super tasty pie. Usually I try to stray away from a basic recipe and search for ways to make one even yummier, but this one has been a time tested keeper that I just couldn't change.

I have yet to find a pie crust recipe that I love. This one was pretty tasty, but I am still going to keep searching for more!

For the crust:

2.5 cups flour

1 tbsp sugar

2 sticks, very cold salted butter

1 cup very cold water (add a few ice cubes to the cup during preparation)

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Dice the butter into small pieces (about half inch cubes in size). Using a pastry blender (or in my case, a few forks - yet another thing on my kitchen list) combine until the butter is pea sized. This is important, we do not want the butter to be too small. Slowly pour one half cup of the cold water over the mixture. With a rubber spatula gather all of the dough together. Do not mix too much. If the dough is still falling apart, add one tablespoon of water at a time until everything is just combined.

Lay down some plastic wrap and put half of  the dough on it. Use the sides of the wrap to pull the dough into a ball and shape into a flat circular disk. Repeat with second half of dough. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour before using.

Sprinkle some flour on your rolling surface, and SLOWLY begin to roll our the disk of dough. I found it best to roll a bit, life and turn a little bit, roll some more, turn, roll, turn, roll. etc. Make sure you have enough flour so the roller will not stick to the dough and the dough will not stick to the counter. Continue this process until you have a 12 inch circle. It was easiest to lightly fold the circle in half and then in fourths to transfer to the pie pan.

Put this back into the refrigerator while rolling out the other half of the dough. Refrigerate that one as well (folded up) and while making the filling.

For the filling:

As stated before, this is a simple Betty Crocker Recipe.

2 cups strawberries, quartered (fresh is best)

3 cups rhubarb, diced in half inch pieces.

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces

1 egg yolk

course sugar

First, cute fresh strawberries and mix with a tiny bit of the sugar to get some of the juices flowing. Mix the rest of the sugar and cornstarch together. Add in the strawberries, juice, and rhubarb. Stir until the fruit is coated with the sugar mixture. Pour into the pie crust that is in the refrigerator. Dot top with butter. Unfold the top crust, trim, and crimp to fit the pan. Beat egg yolk with a spoonful of water. Brush on the crust, cut pretty vent holes in the top with a sharp night, and sprinkle with course sugar.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Mixture will bubble and crust will be golden brown and flaky! Cool for at least 2 hours.

Best served with old fashion vanilla ice cream :)