Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Crumb Topping
A bright and fresh strawberry rhubarb pie with a crumbly and crunchy topping. Use your favorite pie crust for the bottom of the pie. This one sings of spring & summer!
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 single pie crust your favorite pre-made recipe or store-bought
- egg wash for brushing on the pie edges 1 yolk + 1 tablespoon water. Optional step
Pie Filling
- 3 cups strawberries washed and sliced into large pieces
- 3 cups rhubarb washed and sliced into ½ inch slices
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice fresh-squeezed
- ¾ cup sugar granulated - see note
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 4 tablespoon cornstarch or 5 tablespoon of Clear Jel *see note
- pinch of salt
Crumb Topping
- 1 ¼ cups flour all-purpose *see note
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar optional * see note
- ½ cup butter unsalted, melted (1 stick)
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Bottom Pie Crust (using your favorite pre-made pie crust or store-bought)
- Preheat oven to 400°F and line a sheet tray or cookie sheet with parchment or foil. Baking the pie on top of a lined sheet tray will help catch pie filling juices in case any spills over.
- Lay your pie crust into a 9-inch pie pan, leaving a 1-inch edge. Crimp or fold the edge into a pattern or decoration of your choice. Chill until ready to fill. This is an important step to avoid the decorative edge from sinking in the oven.
Crumb Topping
- Combine flour, sugar, nutmeg, and salt (and apple cider vinegar if desired). Stir in melted butter until fully combined. *see notes
Pie Filling
- Add all the ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. *see notes
Assemble
- An optional step is to brush the pie edges with egg wash (1 yolk + 1 tablespoon water). This will create a golden color when baked but it's not essential.
- Pour in the fruit filling, distributing evenly. Top with the crumb topping right away. If the fruit filling sits in the raw pie crust for too long before being baked, the crust could become soggy.
- Using generous handfuls, top the pie with the crumb topping. It's nice to have different sized crumbs for the topping. Sprinkle some smaller crumbs on the pie crust, then squeeze some of the mixture in your hand to pack it together, then crumble it apart over the pie to make larger pieces. I like to leave a few spaces where the fruit can peek through. The topping will bake down a little, it's ok to lay it on thicker in some places to create some additional texture.
Bake
- Bake in the center of a 400F oven for 20 minutes then reduce the heat to 350F. (The higher heat at the beginning of baking will set up the edges of the pie crust.) Bake at 350F for an additional 30-40 minutes. Check for color ½ way through and tent with foil if the top starts to brown too quickly. I almost always tent mine with foil at the ½ way point. Bake until the filling is bubbling around the edges and the topping is a blond to golden brown color. Remove and let fully cool before slicing. The filling will need to set up.
Notes
The amount of flour needed for the crumb topping can vary within a few tablespoons. If your mixture seems too wet, add another tablespoon of flour to create more of a crumbly texture.
Using melted butter is a short cut for using cold butter that would normally be grated. I've found good results in doing both methods.
Apple cider vinegar is the strangest addition to crumb toppings but it really REALLY works. Just use a small splash, less than a teaspoon will do. You won't taste it, but it lightens up the rich butter & flour mixture.
Clear Jel is cornstarch that has been modified to become clear when heated so it's perfect for fruit pies where you want the fruit to shine without that milky appearance. If a fruit pie recipe calls for cornstarch thickener, it's easy to swap that out and use Clear Jel, but I do add a bit more of it. I've found that it's not exactly a 1:1 swap. I'll add about 25% more Clear Jel than the amount of cornstarch.
Nutrition
Calories: 300kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 2gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 105mgPotassium: 226mgFiber: 2gSugar: 34gVitamin A: 408IUVitamin C: 36mgCalcium: 55mgIron: 1mg
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