RHUBARB CUSTARD PIE with GINGER CRUMBLE

Rhubarb Custard Pie with Ginger Crumble (makes one 9" pie)

Orange Pie Pastry 

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
½ teaspoon orange zest
3-4 tablespoons fresh orange juice, chilled

In a large bowl stir together the flour, salt, sugar and orange zest.  Cut in the butter using a pastry blender until mixture forms coarse crumbs.  Add the orange juice and using a fork or your fingertips, gently gather the mixture into a soft dough. Shape the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour. On a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper, roll out the chilled dough to fit a 9” pie plate. Trim the edges and crimp the crust, then place in the freezer.

Ginger Crumble  (adapted from BBC Food)

½ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup white whole-wheat flour
⅓ cup candied ginger, diced into small pieces
5 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, cut into small pieces

In a medium bowl, combine sugars, flour and candied ginger. Add the cold butter and use a pastry blender or two knives to combine into a crumbly mixture. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

Rhubarb Custard filling (with a nod to Kate Lebo)

3 generous cups rhubarb, (1 lb. trimmed of leaves) cut into ½” pieces
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon orange zest
½ teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, orange zest, cardamom and nutmeg. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, the heavy cream and the vanilla. Add the egg/cream mixture to the flour/sugar/spices, whisking until smooth, then gradually whisk in the butter. Set the chilled pie shell on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spread the cut rhubarb in the pie shell and gently pour the custard over it. Bake the pie for 30 minutes; a thin skin will have formed. Sprinkle the crumble over the custard and bake for an additional 30 minutes, rotating the pie front to back to make sure it is browning evenly.  Cool on a rack for at least one hour before serving.

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