One of my favorite things about baking with Sweet Melissa Sundays is that we’ve kept the group relatively small with a maximum of 50 people. The goal isn’t to be exclusive; rather, the small membership size allows each of us to visit and comment on all of the other blogs each week. When a group gets too large, it’s simply not feasible for most people to visit everyone and inevitably some blogs don’t receive the level of support that others do. I like getting to know the other bloggers in the group better as a result of stopping by their sites week after week – it makes this group a lot of fun!
The other benefit to the small group size is that we’ll all likely have the opportunity to host two times and this week just happens to be my turn (my second – the first time I hosted I selected the caramel apple turnovers). After flipping through the book several times marking possible recipes, I settled on the strawberry rhubarb cobbler pie for this week! I had a few reasons – first, I suspected both strawberries and rhubarb would be in season for many of the members and I know I always appreciate when folks choose recipes that include seasonal ingredients. Also, I’d never had rhubarb before and this seemed like the perfect time to finally give it a shot. Plus, baked fruit desserts are one of my favorites, especially when they include both flaky pie crust and buttery biscuits 🙂
The recipe has three components – a bottom crust, the fruit filling and the cobbler topping. Melissa has two pie crust recipes in the book and I used the all-butter one, though I have provided a link to the recipe for the flaky pie crust (which contains shortening) as well. The all-butter crust recipe has become a go-to in my house since discovering it not too long ago. I can make it quickly in the food processor, it rolls out easily, and it’s wonderfully flavorful. Since I already had the food processor out, I used it to make the biscuits too instead of making them by hand as the recipe instructs. I was only able to get 6 full size biscuits and a tiny 7th one, but they fit around the top of the pie perfectly. I used a fluted biscuit cutter, but I probably wouldn’t bother next time as you couldn’t see the pretty edges after the pie baked. The fruit filling includes strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice so it’s very quick and easy to throw together in one bowl. I also found it was the perfect amount of fruit to fill the pie shell.
The hardest part of the recipe for me was determining when the pie was finished. I used the time estimate provided as a guide and waited until my juices were “bubbling and thick” – at about 1 hour and 10 minutes, it seemed I was there. The juices were bubbling feverishly! I pulled the pie out and though the filling looked a bit soupy, I know fruit pies set up as they cool so I hoped the filling would thicken then. Unfortunately, even after letting the pie sit on my counter overnight, the juices weren’t as thick as I’d have liked. It made it nearly impossible to cut a neat slice, which explains why I haven’t shared a photo of the slice of pie I tried. Were I to make the pie again, I’d bake it a little longer or maybe even use a touch more cornstarch in the filling.
Shane’s dad and his coworkers received the remainder of the pie after I snagged my slice. I warned him that the pie was “soupy” before he came to pick it up but he wasn’t deterred. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive despite my concerns over the texture. There seemed to be consensus that the filling was really sweet, but no one thought it was a detriment to the pie. I’m still on the fence on the level of sweetness – I might reduce the amount of sugar just a tad when I make it again. Because of the sweetness from the sugar and the strawberries I’m not sure I was really able to taste the rhubarb but Shane’s mom commented that she thought it added a bit of tartness. Everyone liked the flavor of the crust and no one thought it was soggy, which I was glad to hear after all the juices I saw sitting atop it. The biscuits on top really made this pie outstanding for me – they were buttery, just a bit sweet but somehow light and even fresh from the lemon zest.
Many thanks to everyone who was able to bake with me this week! I hope the pie was a hit 🙂
Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler Pie
from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy
Piecrust
1/2 recipe for Flaky Pie Dough (recipe here) or All-Butter Pie Dough (recipe here)
Cobbler Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher slat
2 tablespoons sugar, plus 1 1/2 teaspoons, for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled
1 tablespoon whole milk or heavy cream, for glazing
Strawberry Rhubarb Filling
2 cups rinsed, hulled and sliced fresh strawberries (1/4-inch slices)
2 cups cleaned and sliced fresh rhubarb (1/2-inch slices
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
To Prepare the Piecrust: Roll the dough into a circle 12-inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick. Gently fit it into a 9-inch pie plate. Fold the edges under and crimp then refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
To Make the Cobbler Topping: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, 2 tablespoons of sugar and the zest. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until it resembles a coarse meal. Little by little, stir in the heavy cream until the dough starts to hold together (a bit more cream may be used if needed).
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Pat together to form a round that is 1/2-inch thick. Using a lightly floured 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter, cut the dough into 7 or 8 biscuits (cut as many as you can from the first round then use the scraps to form and cut from a second round).
Place the biscuits on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate, loosely covered with plastic wrap, until ready to use.
Before You Make the Filling: With a rack in the bottom third of your oven, preheat to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
To Make the Filling: In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries, rhubarb, lemon juice, sugar and cornstarch and mix gently. Pour the fruit mixture into the chilled, unbaked pie shell.
To Complete the Pie: Place the cobbler biscuits evenly around the top of the strawberry mixture. Brush the biscuits with the milk (or cream) and sprinkle with about 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar.
Place the pie on the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the juices are bubbling and thick. To check the “doneness” of the biscuits, carefully lift one to see that the bottom looks like a steamed dumpling and not raw dough. Remove the pie to a wire rack to cool to room temperature before serving.
Looks wonderful! I can’t wait for the rhubarb in my garden to finish growing!!
Thanks for hosting this week! My friends LOVED the cake and I still don’t know what rhubarb tastes like, but now I do know where to find in the store!
I love how your biscuits were positioned to look like a flower. Looks great!
Your cobbler pie looks perfect! Thanks for hosting this week. The filling was tasty! Great choice.
I am just about to put mine up and thought I would stop here, first and I am glad I did. Yours is a real beauty.
I find it a bit difficult without photos. I like to know where I am going.
You set a good example with this pie.
So sorry I didn’t bake along this week. I’m baking a giant cupcake for my sister in laws birthday so I just didn’t have the time 🙁
Your pie looks absolutely amazing though.
Katie xox
Hi Tracey! Thanks for hosting this week.
Your pie is beautiful (as always) and your fluting is perfect! I agree with you that SMS is just the right size.
Wow Tracy your pie looks fantastic. The biscuits look perfect on top.
Im so sorry I was unable to bake with you this week.
I agree with you on the smallness of our group and the fun of getting to know everyone and visiting all the members blogs. I feel sorry for some of the TWD members that get one or two comments. I visit every blog!
Thanks again for hosting this week. I love your blog and your an excellent baker!
This looks amazingly delicious. I had to skip this week due to time constraints but will definitely make this hopefully soon.
Thank you Tracey for a wonderful choice this week. I loved baking along with you and your cobbler pie looks perfect and delicious!
Fantastic photos. I think the filling was on the sweet side too and wanted the tartness to come through a bit more. Thanks for picking a great recipe! I’m baking another one today.
Thanks Tracey! I loved this recipe but agree with you – it needed either more baking time or more cornstarch to make it thick. It was delicious though. Thanks for hosting this week.
Your pie loos beautiful, as usual. Great pick! Mine is in the oven right now, boiling all over the place!
Small groups are BEST!! Ditto on all you said.
When we lived in England we had a huge garden and there was always rhubarb. I loved it, but haven’t had it in abut 50 years. It was wonderfully tart in pies, etc. Would never have thought of mixing with another fruit for sweetness.
Your tart is gorgeous!!!
Thanks for the great pick Tracey! Your pie looks amazing. I’ve got this one on my short list to try after school is finished. Pie crust has been on my list of things to tackle, and this just looks too good!
thanks for hosting tracey! i really had a lot of fun doing this one this week. i really enjoyed it! can’t wait to dig in later (i have to save it to serve at sunday family dinner, argh!!) Yours looks brilliant – your pie crust crimping skills are TOP NOTCH!!! 🙂
-stephanie
lovely! i’m sorry i couldn’t bake along with you this week.
Now that I see your photos I wish I’d gone for making the full pie! I had to scale down and leave out the rhubarb and I’m just waiting to taste it before posting.
I’m with you on all-butter crusts. It didn’t work out for me last time but was so popular with the SMS bakers that I have to try it again.
What an excellent choice and gorgeous pictures to boot! I love baking with rhubarb in spring.
Thanks for hosting. The pie is very good.
So sorry I didn’t get to bake along with you this week. The pictures are beautiful and I’m sure it was delicious! 🙂
Tracey, this was such a great choice for this time of year. I also love baking with seasonal fruit and making things with pastry. I loved those biscuits, too. I remembered them from when we made cobbler last year and was kind of tempted to make extras just to eat.
Thanks for your kind note about the SB box. I’m glad you’re enjoying the treats!
Wonderful photos…looks delish!
Carmen
Your pie looks beautiful! I loved this recipe, great choice!
Oh yours looked amazing! YUM! Thanks for hosting this week- great choice!
This looks marvellous. I like the look of the pastry on top. The rhubarb also adds a very great colour to the filling. Mmmm Yum.
Beautiful pie… I love rhubarb!
Thanks for the great recipe pick this week! I’m so thrilled I finally made a pie crust that didn’t want to make me throw out my rolling pin. 😉 I’m normally not a fan of biscuits, but after seeing how gorgeous yours turned out, I might have to give them a try next time I make this. I loved using seasonal fruit, too!
Thanks for picking a rhubarb recipe! Your cobbler looks perfect. My tart was not pretty to photograph after slicing either- never have much luck with photos of pies
Sorry I didn’t bake along this week! Your pie looks amazing!! I love the way you used the biscuit cutter for the topping.
Strawberry and Rhubarb, what is not to love about that? I would drink it as soup! Your pie looks like absolute perfection, so pretty.
Your pie/cobbler looks great!! I love the bright red/pink color of your filling. Great job on the biscuits and the pie crust. Lovely color on both! I’m very sorry I couldn’t bake with you this week. I only had time to make 1 dessert this week (my vacation is coming up pretty soon so I’m busy prepping for that). Since I had baked twice for SMS this month, and only once for HCB, the choice was clear. I’ll definitely put it on my todo list. I should have plenty of rhubarb in my garden in May/June :o)
Thanks for hosting this week!! I’m so late in posting (ahem, again… Oops!). I tried to make the pie but I have no idea what went wrong with my pastry! It was sooooo odd.. So mine’s a cobbler but a very delicious one!! I read a similar recipe on Smitten Kitchen’s website and she used MUCH less sugar so I actually halved the sugar stated and still found it a touch sweet – but the rhubarb flavour really came through so maybe that’s how to taste the rhubarb more??
Anyway, thank you so much for a great pick and I promise I shall post it tonight!! R xx
Tracey, this was a fantastic selection, and I have to give you props for choosing a flavour combination that’s foreign to you.
I have to say that you’ve got some serious talent when it comes to pie-making – both your biscuits and the way you shaped the pie crust look perfect and delicious.
Gorgeous dessert! We have four rhubarb plants so I will be making this one!
Congrats on a great choice! I am so impressed with your pastry skills – the fluting edge of the pie is so perfect – and the cutouts are just wonderful. I’d love to grow rhubarb if I had the garden space – glad you tried something new!
Rhubarb and strawberry are such a perfect pair, I think. And I love the idea of cutting the top part to several rings! Beautiful!
Great choice – this looks delicious!
The fluting on your pie is absolutely gorgeous. I can never get it that perfect!
What a beautiful pie. I love the colors and the ingredients.
Nisrine
The pie looks delicious! I always have the same problem with fruit pies, never quite know when it’s done!!
the pie looks delicious. unique recipe