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We picked up the vodka-in-the-dough trick from food wizardJ. Kenji Lopez-Alt. The spirit hydrates the flour without developing gluten, which makes for an especially pliable dough and tender crust. If you use 100% water, the sky won’t fall, but we really encourage you to try it.
成分
8 servings
Dough
Filling and Assembly
Special Equipment
Dough
Step 1
Whisk flour, granulated sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Toss butter in dry ingredients with your fingertips to evenly coat. Working quickly and aggressively, rub butter into dry ingredients with your fingertips to create large, shaggy pieces of dough (the idea is to smash the butter into the flour, creating some pieces that are flat and thin and some that are large and irregular).
Step 2
Stir vodka, vinegar, and ¼ cup ice water (or ½ cup ice water) in a small bowl. Drizzle over dough, then mix with a fork until shaggy pieces form. Knead in bowl with your hands a couple of times until a shaggy dorm forms (it will look quite dry, and that’s exactly what it should look like). Transfer large clumps of dough to a work surface. Drizzle 1 Tbsp. ice water over remaining dough in bowl and knead again to bring it together. Add to dough on work surface.
Step 3
Divide dough in half. Working with one half, press into a single mass, incorporating dry bits, then pat down to make a ¾"-thick block. Using a bench scraper or knife, divide into 4 pieces. Stack pieces on top of one another, tucking any unincorporated dry bits in between layers, and press down to combine, flattening dough into one mass. Form dough into a ¾"-thick disk and wrap tightly in plastic. Use your fingertips and the outside edges of your palms to press in any rough spots or remaining dry bits of dough (keep dough wrapped in plastic). Chill at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.
Step 4
Do Ahead:Dough can be made 5 days ahead. Keep chilled, or freeze up to 1 month.
Filling and Assembly
Step 5
Preheat oven to 425°. Let dough sit at room temperature 5 minutes to soften. Working one at a time, roll out disks on a lightly floured surface to ⅛" thick. Place each on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and chill while you prepare the filling.
Step 6
Scrape vanilla seeds into a large bowl; reserve pod for another use. Add rhubarb, strawberries, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and salt; toss to coat.
Step 7
Carefully transfer 1 dough round to pie dish (make sure it’s a deep pie dish—super critical). Lift up edges and allow dough to slump down into dish (if it’s too cold to be pliable, let it warm up slightly first). Gently press dough into edges of dish, if needed. Trim, leaving about a 1" overhang. Gently scrape in filling and smooth top. Lay remaining round over filling and trim, leaving about a ½" overhang. Fold edge of bottom round up and over top crust; press together to seal. Crimp as desired.
Step 8
Beat egg with 1 tsp. water in a small bowl and lightly brush over top of dough. Sprinkle with raw sugar.
Step 9
Transfer pie dish to a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (for catching overflowing juices later) and chill in freezer 10 minutes. Cut a few slashes across top of pie. Bake pie 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375°. Continue to bake until crust is deep golden brown and juices are thick and bubbling, 75–90 minutes longer. If using a clear pie dish, check underneath to make sure the crust is browned all the way across the bottom.
Step 10
Transfer pie to a wire rack and let cool at least 4 hours before serving. Yes, it smells amazing, and yes, people love warm pie. But if you don’t give it time to set up properly, the filling will be runny when you cut into it.
Step 11
Do Ahead:Pie can be made 1 day ahead. Let cool, then cover with foil and store at room temperature.
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Reviews (1)
Back to TopThis was without a doubt the best strawberry rhubarb pie I’ve ever had and my family whole heartily concurs. With that said and in the spirit of full disclosure here are the minor deviations that I made. I used my own vanilla sugar and cut back on the brown sugar by half as I wanted the rhubarb to be the star of this production. For fear of having the rhubarb disintegrate into nothingness I mixed up the thickness of the rhubarb and used slightly under four cups which was less than the pound and a quarter recommended in the recipe. It worked. The 9” pie was perfect, anymore and it would have been oozing out the sides as some had wanted to towards the end of the cook time. I cut back on the corn starch by a tbsp and used minute tapioca sprinkled on the bottom crust and on top of the filling once it was in the pie shell, before the lattice crust was applied. Not being a fan of prying foil from the bottom of fruit pie I used parchment paper instead. Easier clean up and the crust was baked to perfection. *Gas oven used. The temperature(s) and timing were spot on and the advice to let it cool for four hours is a must. Do not skip this or you will have a runny pie. Chris Morocco is 100% correct in praise of J.Kenji López-Alt as a food wizard and I would add he’s a food genius. I have his “The Food Lab” and “The Wok Recipes and Techniques” books. I highly recommend them for those who are food nerds. They are heirloom quality books. And if Dear reader’s, if you are looking for a wonderful salad using the main seasonal stars in this pie, may I point you to this app’s Bon Appétit salad by Claire Saffitz. “Strawberry and Watercress Salad”. My family had this with just a couple of tweaks, along with Nathalie Dupree’s Butterflied leg of lamb and grilled asparagus. Finishing the food festivities with what I’m renaming, “Chris’s Best Dam Strawberry & Rhubarb Pie” last night for the perfect spring Mother’s Day dinner. Cheers.
Sharon
Burlington, ON Canada
5/15/2023