The Pie Hole

omomnom:

Strawberry Rhubarb Lattice Tart

Ingredients:

Sweet Pastry Dough:

3 cups All Purpose Flour
1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
Pinch Salt
16 tbls (2 Sticks) very cold Butter, cut into small cubes
2 Eggs
2-4 tbls Cold Water
Soft Butter (for greasing pan)

Filling & Finishing:

300 grams Strawberries, diced small
260 grams Rhubarbs, diced small
1 tbls Orange Juice
1 ½ tbls Corn Starch
1/8 cup Granulated Sugar
Pinch Salt
1 Egg, for egg wash
1 tbls Milk, for egg wash
Demerara Sugar

Procedure:

Sweet Pastry Dough:

Add flour, sugar, and salt to a food processor and pulse twice. Next, add the butter pieces and eggs and pulse a few more times until it practically comes together. Then stream water in (a tablespoon at a time) until it all comes together. You might not need all of the water, don’t add more if the dough has already come together. Take the dough out and on a lightly floured surface, push at all together so that it is one cohesive dough ball. Cut it into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Wrap it in plastic wrap and push it into a disk shape. Let them rest in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes.

Filling & Finishing:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine strawberries, rhubarb, orange juice, cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Mix together and let rest until you are ready to fill the tart.

Take a large piece of parchment paper and trace the top outer edge of the tart pan you will be using. Use a nine-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (the removable bottom will make it easier to remove it once it is cooked and done). Butter the pan and put it in the freezer. Reserve the parchment paper for later.

When the dough is ready, take it out of the refrigerator. Roll out the larger piece on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8 inch thick. Fill it into the frozen tart pan and cleanly cut at the top edge of the pan. Put the dough filled pan back in the freezer. Roll out the second piece of dough and cut long strips that are ¼ inch in width. On top of the piece of parchment paper, proceed to form a lattice top, looping each strand over and under other strands (If the dough gets too warm, it becomes harder to work with. If you find this happening, simply put it in the freezer for a couple of minutes and then take it out and continue to work on it, and so on and so forth). When your lattice work is finished, cut a large circle out of the lattice strips a tiny bit larger than the pan trace you have on the parchment (Use the picture above as a reference of how this should look once cut).

Make the egg wash: mix together the egg and milk and put aside. Take the dough filled tart pan out of the freezer. Brush a small amount of egg wash onto the top edge of the tart. Going back to the fruit filled bowl, notice that a lot of juice has accumulated in it. Strain out most of the juice and then pour the fruit mixture into the dough filled tart pan. Carefully flip the lattice circle that is on the parchment paper on top of the tart, and ever so delicately, peel away the parchment paper. Fix the alignment if needed and press the edge of the tart slightly with the edge of the lattice top. Brush egg wash on the lattice top and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Place the tart on a baking sheet and place in the preheated oven. Cook for about 40 minutes (checking every ten minutes to make sure it is cooking evenly. Rotate while cooking if needed).

When it is done, let it cool for at least 20 minutes. Then carefully remove, serve and enjoy!

omomnom:

Strawberry Cream Pie

INGREDIENTS

Crust

1 box (15 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
1 package (7 oz) almond paste
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 egg white

Filling

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries*

Topping

1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
8 fresh whole strawberries, if desired

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Unroll 1 crust on work surface. Into medium bowl or food processor, crumble almond paste. Add 1 teaspoon cornstarch and the egg white. Mix or cover and process until smooth. Spread on crust to within 1 1/4 inches of edge. Unroll second crust; place on top and pat together gently. Place stuffed crust in ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. Seal edges; flute. Cover edge with foil; fit second pie plate inside first pie plate on top of crust.

2. Bake 10 minutes. Remove top pie plate; gently prick crust surface over filling about 15 times with fork. Bake uncovered about 15 minutes longer or until crust is light golden brown. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

3. Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, mix granulated sugar and 3 tablespoons cornstarch. Stir in strawberries. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir 3 to 5 minutes or until filling thickens. Refrigerate about 30 minutes, stirring once, until cool.

4. Just before serving, spread strawberry filling in crust. In medium bowl, beat whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Spread on top of pie. Garnish with strawberries.