Rhubarb

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Pie

June 22, 2022
4
7 Ratings
Photo by Julia Gartland
  • Prep time 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Cook time 1 hour 10 minutes
  • makes one 9-inch pie
Test Kitchen Notes

Bake It Up a Notch is a column by Resident Baking BFF Erin Jeanne McDowell. Each month, she'll help take our baking game to the next level, teaching us all the need-to-know tips and techniques and pointing out all the mistakes to avoid along the way. Food52

What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Pie
Ingredients
  • Pie Dough
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
  • 1/3 cup ice water, plus more as needed
  • Filling & Finishing
  • 4 cups thickly sliced rhubarb
  • 3 cups chopped strawberries
  • 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar, divided
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • Fine sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes
  • Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water; optional)
  • Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Directions
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Using your hands, toss the butter through the flour until each piece is well coated. Cut the butter into the flour by pressing the butter between your fingers and thumbs, flattening the cubes into big shards. Continue to mix until the butter is almost completely incorporated—the mixture should resemble cornmeal in color and texture.
  2. Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the ice water. Toss the flour mixture gently (rather than stirring) to moisten and incorporate the water without overworking the flour. Continue adding water, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, and tossing and kneading slightly until the dough comes together. (It should hold together easily without feeling wet or sticky.)
  3. Form the dough into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
  4. Make the strawberry-rhubarb filling: In a large pot, toss the sliced rhubarb, strawberries, and ⅔ cup of the granulated sugar to combine. Cook over medium, tossing occasionally, until the rhubarb starts to soften slightly, 5 to 7 minutes.
  5. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining ⅔ cup granulated sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg, and a pinch of fine sea salt to combine. Sprinkle the sugar mixture evenly over the strawberry-rhubarb mixture in the pot and mix well to combine. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture gently bubbles from the center of the pot. Let cool completely before preparing the pie (to do this quickly, pour into a casserole dish or baking sheet and spread into an even layer).
  6. Make the streusel: In a medium bowl, stir the oats, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt to combine. Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers until the mixture forms large clumps.
  7. Heat the oven to 400°F with the oven rack placed in the lower third of the oven (and preferably with a pizza stone on the rack, though this is optional). Grab a 9-inch skillet.
  8. Assemble the pie: Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface until it's about ⅛ inch thick. Press firmly and evenly, rotating the dough as you work to prevent sticking without adding too much flour. (Ideally the dough will also be about 1½ inches wider than the top edge of your skillet all the way around.)
  9. Transfer the dough to the skillet. Starting at one end of dough, wrap it around the rolling pin. Lift the pin to the edge of the skillet and unfurl the dough into it. Press the dough into the base of the skillet and trim the excess dough to ½ inch around the outside edge of the skillet.
  10. Pour the cooled filling into the prepared crust and sprinkle the streusel evenly on top. Fold the excess crust over the filling all around the edge of the crust, letting it pleat naturally the way you would for a galette. If desired, brush the exposed crust with egg wash and garnish with turbinado sugar.
  11. Transfer the pie to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350°F and continue to bake until the crust is browned and the filling is visibly bubbly, 40 to 50 minutes.
  12. Let cool completely before slicing and serving.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Meagan Katherine Denman
    Meagan Katherine Denman
  • Amy Ginsberg
    Amy Ginsberg
  • Kathy DeStadio
    Kathy DeStadio
  • tavarezsc
    tavarezsc
I always have three kinds of hot sauce in my purse. I have a soft spot for making people their favorite dessert, especially if it's wrapped in a pastry crust. My newest cookbook, Savory Baking, came out in Fall of 2022 - is full of recipes to translate a love of baking into recipes for breakfast, dinner, and everything in between!

6 Reviews

Kathy D. May 30, 2023
I have not had good luck with pie crust but I won’t let that stop me. I had a big bunch of rhubarb given to me and wanted to make a pie for Memorial Day with friends. I baked this pie in my 9 1/2” cast iron pan as directed. This was one of the best pies I’ve made. It was so good someone wants me to make more pie filling to put on their English muffin for breakfast. I love that the filling was not supper sweet and you could taste the fruit. I’m wondering if I can take out the cornstarch and add pectin instead to make a jam that isn’t overly sweet. Great Pie! I will make it again. Thank you for sharing your pie knowledge!❤️
 
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Best S. August 20, 2023
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tavarezsc July 6, 2022
This pie is wonderful. I made this in a standard glass pie dish and par-baked it before adding the filling because I don’t have a 9-inch cast iron pan. The recipe ingredients list vanilla bean paste but doesn’t say where to add it so I added it to my crumble topping and it was wonderful. I also used all AP flour for the crumble (no whole wheat flour). The filling was the perfect mix of tart and sweet and I absolutely loved the crumble as an alternative to the typical double crust on fruit pies. Thanks Erin for the great recipe!
 
Meagan K. July 5, 2022
Recipe needs to be updated - the ingredients list has vanilla yet it's not in the instructions... and the instructions mention whole wheat flour but it's not in the ingredients list. Also would be good to know how thick the strawberry rhubarb mixture should be.
 
Amy G. July 3, 2022
I am making this for July 4th and I’ve assembled all the ingredients. Here’s the problem with the recipe. The ingredients calls for vanilla bean paste. Nowhere in the instructions does it mention the paste. The instructions call for whole wheat flour. Nowhere in the ingredient list does it mention while wheat flour. I’m committed to making it anyway but this is very disappointing. Doesn’t anyone review before it gets posted?