Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I love combining the tart taste of rhubarb with the sweet refreshing taste of strawberries. When Rhubarb is in season, it’s a must to bake at least one cake with this combination. This time I chose a pie that is even easier to make than Oma’s Rhubarb Cake, and with a lot of crumble (Streusel) on top.

For this Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, I used a Mürbeteig (German Shortcrust Pastry) base, also known as 1-2-3 dough which shows the ratio of the main ingredients: 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter and 3 parts flour.

The following recipe is for a Ø 26 cm springform strawberry rhubarb cake. For an oven tray you can double the ingredients.

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:

• 300 g all-purpose flour
• 200 g cold butter
• 100 g powder sugar (caster sugar also works, see bellow further explanations)
• 1 egg yolk or 1/2 small egg (optional)
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 sachet vanilla sugar (1 tsp = 4g)
• lemon zest of half a lemon (optional)

Ingredients for the rhubarb filling:

• 250 g strawberries (cleaned and cut)
• 250 g rhubarb (peeled and cut)
• 1 tbsp sugar (15g)
• 1 tsp waldmeister (sweet woodruff) liqueur or any other alcohol of your choice, if desired (optional)
• 1 tbsp starch

Ingredients for the crumble (Streusel):

• 375 g all-purpose flour
• 250 g caster sugar
• 250 g cold butter
• 1/2 sachet vanilla sugar (1 tsp = 4g)
• 1 pinch of salt

1. For the shortcrust pastry, mix the flour with the flour, salt, sugar, vanilla sugar, egg/egg yolk, and lemon zest if you have any available. If you intend to use the dough soon, you should use powder sugar because it melts faster. You can make this dough the day before with caster sugar and let it rest overnight in the fridge, wrapped in plastic foil. Adding egg yolk to the dough will help bind the ingredients and gives a sticky structure. You can get half an egg by separating it with a spoon. If you don’t have eggs, you can leave it out but the dough will be a little harder to work with. Do not add water or baking powder to the 1-2-3 Dough. At most, you can add 1 tbsp of heavy cream with a high percent of fat instead of the egg if you want the dough to be a little sticky.
2. Combine all the ingredients together and let the dough rest in the fridge for a minimum of half an hour, better overnight. Do not overmix. When working with the dough, you should have a firm cold one.
3. Wash the rhubarb, cut the ends and peel it if you have big stalks. Check out here how to peel and cut rhubarb. Cut the rhubarb in about 2 cm pieces.
4. Wash the strawberries and cut them in halves or quarters.
5. Mix the strawberries with the rhubarb, sugar, starch, and alcohol, if desired.
6. Preheat the oven at 210°C/410°F.
7. Prepare a Ø 26 cm springform tin. No need to butter it since the 1-2-3 Dough has a lot of butter. I usually use a baking sheet on the bottom of the tin so I can remove it easier later.
8. Line the tin with the cold dough. You can use a rolling pin to roll it out of whatever works for you better. Don’t forget to leave a 2 cm edge. I am lazy so I like to simply press it on the bottom on the tin since I find it easier and faster.
9. Prick the bottom with a fork and bake it in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, at 210°C/410°F.
10. When the time has passed, take out the shortcrust pastry from the oven and reduce the heat at 180°C/392°F. Let it rest for 2-3 minutes while you make the crumble.
11. Make the crumble (Streusel) by mixing all the ingredients together. Do not overmix so the butter doesn’t start to melt.
12. Add the rhubarb and strawberry filling on top of the shortcrust pastry.
    
13. Add the Streusel on top of the filling.
    
14. Bake the pie for about 20-25 minutes at 180°C/356°F.
15. Let it cool down for a few minutes before taking it out of the tray.
    
16. You should cut it only when it’s completely cooled down so that the filling is cold and has the consistency of a pudding. If you cut it while it’s still warm, the filling will be rather fluid.
17. You can serve it with cream and, of course, a nice cup of coffee.

If you want a more intense rhubarb taste, you can make this recipe only with rhubarb. You can also try out Oma’s Rhubarb Cake or even use the yeast dough from there with the filling from here. You can also make a Rührteig (a type of sponge mixture) base for more fluffiness. Feel free to experiment and find the combination that works for you.

Do not throw away the peel of rhubarb. You can use it to make a delicious Rhubarb Lemonade.

You can find more rhubarb recipes here.