30/12/2022
Rhubarb, raspberry and rosewater pie
The best bit about this pastry is none of the blind-baking shenanigans are required. Just a quick freeze while you prepare the filling, then shove it in the oven. No one likes a soggy pie and the fruit makes all the difference. Be sure to use fresh raspberries; frozen raspberries will create too much liquid.
Ingredients
For the pastry
2 cups plain flour
½ tsp salt
2 tsp castor sugar
⅔ cup lard, melted (or vegetable shortening, unmelted)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
6 to 8 tbsp iced water
For the filling
700g rhubarb, trimmed and sliced to about 2cm dice
150g fresh raspberries
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
3 tbsp rosewater
6 tbsp tapioca flour
For the glaze
1 egg whisked with 1 tbsp cream
1 tbsp raw sugar
vanilla ice-cream, to serve (optional)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220C.
2. To prepare the pastry add the flour, salt and castor sugar to a bowl, and use a fork to stir to combine and aerate the flour a little. Add the lard and cut through with the fork. Continue mixing until you have coarse crumbs. Add the vanilla bean paste. Combine then gradually add the water, one tablespoon at a time, until incorporated. Pull the dough apart and if it seems crumbly, add a little more water, a teaspoon at a time. Separate into 2 balls, one slightly larger (the base) than the other.
3. Spread out a sheet of baking paper and place the larger ball of dough on it and roll with a rolling pin until the diameter is about 3cm larger than the diameter of your pie tin, and a few millimetres thick. Gently transfer the pastry to the pie tin, press it into place including up the sides of the tin and trim the edges (reserve the offcuts for the lid). Place the pastry case in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
4. Combine the filling ingredients in a bowl until the fruit is evenly coated in the tapioca flour – this will prevent your pie becoming a soggy-bottomed mess.
5. Remove the pie base from the freezer and fill with the rhubarb mixture. Gently dab the top edge of the pastry with water.
6. Roll the remaining pastry into a circle, place it over the rhubarb filling, gently pressing the pastry it into the water-dabbed edge. Trim any overhanging pastry and cut a few vents in the lid to allow the steam to release. Generously brush the top with the glaze and scatter with raw sugar.
7. Bake for 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 170C and cook for a further 30 minutes or until some juice bubbles through the vents and the top is a lovely golden colour. Slice and serve with ice-cream.
