Name: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Total time: 4 h 20 min
Yield: 1 pie
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups (320 g) flour; 1 tsp salt; 1 cup (225 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed; 1/2 cup ice water, plus more as needed; 3 1/2 cups rhubarb, cut into 2 cm pieces; 3 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered; 1 cup natural sugar; 1/3 cup flour; 1 tbsp tapioca starch; Juice of 1/2 an orange or lemon; 1/4 tsp salt; 2 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces; 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp cream (for egg wash)

This is the California side of my kitchen talking. While Bavaria does rhubarb with meringue and Kuchen, California does it the way California does everything — in a pie, with an all-butter crust, and with just enough strawberries to make it feel like sunshine.

The filling is dead simple: rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, a squeeze of citrus, and a little flour and tapioca to thicken the juices. You pile it into a buttery bottom crust, dot the top with butter, drape on a second crust with decorative slits, crimp it pretty, and bake until the whole house smells like a summer you haven’t had yet.

The hardest part is waiting. You have to let it cool completely — really, truly, all-the-way cool — so the juices gel and the slices hold together. Cut in too early and you’ll have delicious soup. Which, honestly, is also fine.

The Recipe

Makes: 1 pie • Prep: 30 min + 3 hr chill • Bake: 50 min • Cool: completely

For the All-Butter Pie Dough

2½ cups (320 g) flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup (225 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
½ cup ice water, plus more as needed

For the Filling

3½ cups rhubarb, cut into 2 cm pieces
3½ cups strawberries, hulled and quartered
1 cup natural sugar
⅓ cup flour
1 tbsp tapioca starch
Juice of ½ an orange or lemon
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces

For Assembly

1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp cream (for egg wash)

Instructions

Make the dough: Pulse the flour and salt in a food processor. Add the cold butter cubes and pulse until you have pea-sized pieces. Drizzle in ice water and pulse until the dough just comes together. Divide in half, flatten into discs, wrap, and chill for at least 3 hours (or overnight).
Roll the bottom crust: Roll one disc out on a floured surface and fit it into a pie plate. Refrigerate while you make the filling.
Make the filling: Toss the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, flour, tapioca, citrus juice, and salt together in a large bowl.
Fill: Pour the filling into the pie crust. Dot the top with small pieces of butter.
Top crust: Roll out the second disc. Cut decorative slits for steam. Drape over the filling. Trim the overhang to about 1 cm, tuck the edges underneath, and crimp decoratively.
Egg wash: Brush the top crust with the egg yolk mixture.
Bake: 200°C (390°F) for 20 minutes, then reduce to 180°C (355°F) for 25–30 minutes until the crust is deep golden and the filling bubbles through the slits.
Cool: Let cool completely at room temperature. The juices will gel as it cools — this is what holds the slices together.

Notes

The dough needs to be very cold. If it softens while rolling, pop it back in the fridge.
A pizza stone on the rack below helps get a crisp bottom crust.
Patience with cooling is everything — at least 3–4 hours.

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