Thinking of Spring….
I see strawberries and rhubarb, growing together on the lowlands. Clouds of infinite white whipped cream, crumb and cake mingle in great harmony, in all kitchens the newly born spring is beloved and relished. (Very freely interpreted for this strawberry-rhubarb pie after famous Dutch poem “Memories of Holland” by H. Marsman).
Strawberry-rhubarb pie
Strawberries and rhubarb, they might be one of the most delicious flavor combinations of spring. Together with luscious cream, these flavors form a sophisticated whole. As an ode to spring, and to all mothers, we came up with this delicious strawberry-rhubarb pie. Would you like to do someone a huge favor on Mother’s Day? Then make this delicious pie, and that someone will surely be very happy. Our tip: bake the base of the pie the day before and prepare the filling on the day itself. That takes about half an hour, then let it set for another half hour and you’re good to go. With not too much effort you achieve a grand result.
Masterclass Vegan Pastry
Does this taste like more and would you like to better understand the finer details of baking? Then take a look at the Vegan Pastry Masterclass. With this master class you will understand the function of the main ingredients in your pastry, and how you can bake better and more delicious pastries.
Strawberry & rhubarb pie
Equipment
- 1 pie tin or springform approx. 24 cm
- sheet of baking parchment
- blind bake filling (beans, rice etc..)
Ingredients
Pie crust
- 75 g cold plant butter
- 165 g flour
- 55 g castor sugar
- 3 g salt
- 25 g vegan yoghurt
Pie filling
- 150 g rhubarb
- 100 g sugar
- 15 g maizena
- 40 g water
- 200 ml vegan whipping cream
- 1 sachet vanilla sugar
- 1 sachet stabilizer for whipping cream
- 150 g fresh strawberries halved
Instructions
Pie crust preparation
- Cut the butter into small cubes and put them in the freezer for 10 minutes.75 g cold plant butter
- Place the butter cubes with the flour (and sugar if you are going to bake a sweet cake) and salt in the food processor and briefly mix using the pulsing button until flakes are formed. Transfer to a bowl and add the yoghurt. Mix softly with your fingertips, pressing everything together without kneading until you have a cohesive dough. If you do not have a foodprocessor you can also use your hands to rub the hard cold butter, flour, sugar and salt into a crumbly structure. Then mix in the yoghurt and as described.165 g flour, 55 g castor sugar, 3 g salt, 25 g vegan yoghurt
- Form a flat round ball of the dough. Wrap in foil and flatten it with a rolling pin to a 4 cm thick circle. This will ease rolling out later. Let rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Blind baking of the pie crust
- Preheat the oven to 170 °C conventional or 185 °C convection.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it between two sheets of baking paper to a sheet of dough which is 2 – 3 cm larger than your baking mold.
- Place the dough between the sheets of baking paper in your baking tin and press the dough well into the edges. Make sure that the edge of the dough rises a little above the tray. Cut off the excess dough. Fill the mold with a blind bake filling and press it down well. Bake the cake 20 minutes in the middle of the oven (or on an oven stone). Remove the blind bake filling and the top layer of baking paper and put the cake back into the oven for another 6 minutes. Then leave to cool completely on a cooling grid.
Pie filling preparation
- Cut the rhubarb into small cubes and cook the rhubarb with the sugar for about 10 minutes until it becomes a purée. Mix the cornstarch with the water and pour this mixture into the boiling rhubarb purée while stirring with a whisk. Let come to a brief boil to thicken. Then pour the rhubarb puree into a wide tray, large plate or bowl to quickly cool.150 g rhubarb, 100 g sugar, 15 g maizena, 40 g water
- Once the rhubarb purée is at room temperature: whip the cream up with the vanilla sugar until stiff. Then add the cooled rhubarb puree and the whipping cream stabilizer and beat briefly and thoroughly.200 ml vegan whipping cream, 1 sachet vanilla sugar, 1 sachet stabilizer for whipping cream
- Keep 5 strawberries aside. Halve the remaining strawberries and place them, cut side up, in the pie crust diagonally up against the pie edge. Spoon the filling into the center and smooth to a small mound. Make sure you can still see the strawberries at the edge (see photo). Make a circle in the center with the remaining halved strawberries. Each cake slice (8 pieces) will thus have a strawberry on top. Let the cake set in the refrigerator for an hour.150 g fresh strawberries
- Garnish the pie with a sprig of mint and some baked pie crumbs (see notes for a recipe link)
