Stalking Out the Best Rhubarb for Pie

In spring, Mom put an upside-down bushel basket over a corner of her rhubarb patch. The dark, warmer conditions within coaxed longer, rosy-red stalks from the rhubarb roots below.

Those rosy-red stalks made great rhubarb pie.

Ingredient for an Extra Special Rhubarb Pie

Mom’s spring-forced rhubarb made great pie because when you force rhubarb—when you grow it in warmer, dark conditions—you get stalks with a bright red colour. It’s quite different from the stringier, greenish-red stalks you get from rhubarb exposed to sunlight.

Along with the colour, the other thing about forced rhubarb is that it’s more tender. Cooked into a pie, it’s melt-in-your-mouth tender.

So I recommend forced rhubarb if you want an extra special rhubarb pie.

If not, though, regular rhubarb still makes great rhubarb pie. I share Mom’s recipe below.

Where to get Forced Rhubarb

Force it yourself: You can force it in the garden, like Mom did—or you can even force it indoors over the winter.
Find out how to force your own rhubarb indoors over the winter.
Depending where you are, you might also be able to buy forced rhubarb in the winter and early spring.
Hear farmer French explain how he forces rhubarb.

Another Special Ingredient for Rhubarb Pie

Mom always added orange zest to her rhubarb pie. It’s a pairing that I love. I think they’re made to go together. The orange zest doesn’t blunt the tanginess of the rhubarb or disguise the flavour.

Because I grow potted citrus here in Toronto, I experiment with other types of citrus zest. Yuzu and Meyer lemon zest both work very nicely with rhubarb.

Hear about cold-hardy citrus such as yuzu.

Find out how to grow a potted Meyer lemon tree.

The Rhubarb Pie Crust

Mom used vegetable shortening. My wife, Shelley, swears by lard, like her grandmother taught her to use.

I’m not too sophisticated when it comes to pastry…but I appreciate a good one. If I’m in a rush, I just buy a pre-made pastry shell.

These days I have a rolling pin, but in my first kitchen, I rolled my pastry with a quart beer bottle. (Labatt 50 in case you’re wondering!)

Pastry-Related Tip

Something that I think works very nicely with rhubarb pie is sugar granules on the crust. It looks nice—and fits well with the sweet-and-sour in a rhubarb pie.

Here’s what to do:

Before you pop your pie into the oven, brush the top with milk, and then lightly sprinkle sugar over the top.

Serving Rhubarb Pie

Keep it simple.

Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream are all that I’d pair with rhubarb pie.

I was once served rhubarb pie with chocolate ice cream. Yuck! It hid the rhubarb flavour.

Soggy Bottom Crust and Rhubarb Pie

When I was learning to make pie, Mom explained why she liked to start off her rhubarb pie at a higher temperature. The higher temperature was to make sure the bottom crust isn’t soggy.

Because there’s a lot of moisture in rhubarb, it’s common to get a soggy lower crust. A blast of higher heat when you first start baking helps prevent that.

Rhubarb Pie Recipe

Ingredients

4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup sugar (I actually prefer pie with ¾ cups of sugar, but Mom used a cup)
¼ cup flour
Zest of half an orange

Directions

Chop rhubarb into 2 cm (3/4”) pieces
Mix together ingredients
Place in a pie shell
Put on the upper crust (crimp well with a fork because this is a juicy pie, and you don’t want that precious juice coming out the side!)
Use a fork to poke some vent holes in the upper crush
Bake at 450°F for 10 minutes
Turn down the temperate to 350°F and bake 30 more minutes

More on Rhubarb

Hear farmer Brian French explain how he forces rhubarb.

Find out how to force your own rhubarb.

Did You Know?

Rhubarb looks great in an edible garden. My neighbour Chris planted it next to his pond because of the large tropical-looking leaves and the charming flowers.

If the idea of a garden that has edible plants woven into it, you might be interested in my Edible Garden Makeover masterclass.

More Food Gardening Resources

Course

Create your own edible oasis…including a patch of rhubarb. Edible Garden Makeover guides you through creating an edible garden you love.

Mom's Rhubarb Pie Recipe