Nothing says summer like a vegan rhubarb pie! These tart, ruby-red stalks make the most delicious filling you can wrap inside a buttery, golden, flaky crust.
Rhubarb is one of Spring's sweetest gifts. These crisp, tart stalks that look like ruby-red celery start appearing in the farmer's market in my suburban Washington neighborhood this time of year. They get snapped up in a hurry by eager bakers, but to the uninitiated they are a bit of a mystery.
That's because rhubarb looks so much like a vegetable -- it is in fact a vegetable-- and is so lip-puckering sour that someone who's never tried it before can't help but wonder how it would fit in with sweets, where it is most often used.
Well, I have an easy solution to make you a believer: put some rhubarb where your mouth is.
But first, bake it into a delicious pie, like this one I have for you today.
Something magical happens to rhubarb when it is subjected to a high temperature in an oven: it melts into that warm, gooey goodness you have craved all through the cold days of winter. Mix some sugar and some spice into that goodness, and you have a food you will likely get addicted to.
My rhubarb pie is very basic: the way I like it best. I just toss the sliced rhubarb with some sugar and vanilla (the sweetness of the vanilla is a perfect complement to the sour rhubarb. Nutmeg would be nice too). And then I bake it up in a classic pie shell with a lattice top crust that bakes up all flaky and crisp.
Be sure to let your pie cool thoroughly before you cut it-- a rule of thumb for almost any fruit pie. This is because the fruit juices continue to thicken and gelatanize as the pie cools down, and if you cut the pie when it's still warm you will likely find your plate flooded with still-runny liquid. Not a great pie experience, by any means.
Happy baking!
More vegan rhubarb recipes
- Vegan Rhubarb Ginger Upside Down Cake
- Easy Vegan Rhubarb Galette
- Homemade Rhubarb Jam
- Vegan Rhubarb Bread
- Vegan Rhubarb Mousse
Vegan Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients
For the pie pastry crust:
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 8 tablespoon vegan butter (cold and cut into ¼-inch cubes)
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Ice-cold water
For the pie filling:
- 5 cups rhubarb (thinly sliced. Slice lengthwise, into little rounds. I needed 5 longish stalks of rhubarb for 5 cups)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
Instructions
- To make the pie crust, place all the ingredients except water in a mixing bowl. Using a fork or a pie-cutter, cut the butter into the flour. You should have a coarse mixture with fairly large-- about pea-size-- pieces of butter and shortening in it.
- Drizzle the water a little at a time into the flour and mix rapidly with a fork until the dough comes together. Be sure to keep all your ingredients as cold as possible.
- Divide the dough into half and wrap each half tightly in plastic wrap. Shape each half into a disc with the palms of your hands as you wrap it. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to 2 hours.
- To make the filling, place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Set aside for at least 15 minutes.
- To roll out the pie crust, take one of the discs of dough from the refrigerator and roll into a disc large enough to fit into a 9-inch pie plate with some overhang.
- Fit the dough into the pie plate, pressing the dough into the corners, and place in the refrigerator while you roll out the top crust.
- Roll the other disc of dough into a circle that will fit on top of the pie plate with a slight overhang. Using a pizza cutter or a knife, cut the circle into long strips.
- Pour the filling into the bottom crust, mixing one last time before you pour it in.
- To form the lattice, place half the strips across the pie, at roughly ¾th-inch intervals. Fold back alternate strips and place a strip across those already in place. Unfold the alternate strips, fold back the remaining strips, and place another strip across the pie. Continue doing this until you've used up all the strips of dough.
- Place the pie in a preheated 425-degree oven and bake 30 minutes. Then slide a baking sheet under the pie and continue baking for another 35 minutes or until the juices are bubbling through the lattice top.
- Remove to a rack and cool the pie thoroughly before eating. This takes some time-- about 4-5 hours-- so be sure to plan accordingly and avoid the temptation to cut the pie before it has cooled.
- Enjoy!
Sammi ozpunk
Delicious an I cheated used the puff pastry premade, pretty much threw it together real quick. I boiled the rhubarb, mixed the vanilla just threw in handful COCONUT sugar and got it melted using the saucepan I cooked the rhubarb in, layered the pastry in a cake deep rectangular pan, put the rhubarb in an poured the mix on top. Covered with sheet pastry, put some fork marks in, rolled edges, sprinkled cinnamon an nutmeg on top…
So goooooood. Cooked fast.
Vaishali
Great, I love puff pastry pie crusts! Your pie sounds awesome, I am sure it looked amazing too. Thanks for letting me know.
sara_robin79@yahoo.com
what exactly is pre-made puff pastry? Is it always vegan and what brand, etc. do you use? Thank you!