It’s summertime, and the possibilities seem endless.
Being a recent college graduate, this is my last real summer and I know I’ve got to fulfill every one of my summertime goals, from swimming in the Doubletree Hotel’s rooftop pool to sending out all my resumes. But if I have learned anything from summers past, these three months of freedom go by in flash. This might mean writing immaculately written cover letters that scream “you’ll love me!” while applying sunblock and sitting poolside with my pineapple sippy cup in hand.
Rhubarb stalks, strawberries, and Madagasgar bourbon vanilla beans
And did I mention that I’m fitting in a backpacking trip through Europe?? I leave in less than a week and couldn’t be more excited! It won’t be my first trip experiencing the sights of Europe, but it is my first time backpacking. I’m not the best at packing light, but I think I’ll be forced to unless I want to haul a ridiculously heavy pack around for 2 weeks. Two friends and I will be traveling from Munich south through Prague, Austria, maybe even Switzerland, and ending up in Rome.
The sweet and gooey filling
Brush the top of the crust with egg yolk, sprinkle with sugar
What has me most excited about this trip is the food. I see this two week excursion as more of a culinary tour than a vacation. I intend to try everything…twice…and with lots of sauce. I just hope my fellow travelers don’t mind stopping frequently because I am determined to try the best gugelhupf, schnitzel, and tiramisu the world has to offer.
Pie recipe adapted from Simply Recipes
For the pie dough, follow the guidance of Smitten Kitchen and use her recipe for the great unshrinkable sweet tart shell. It’s so easy and works every time. I made 2 batches of her pie dough, one for the bottom crust and another to lay on top of the pie.
Ingredients for filling:
3 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Trim away all the leaves because they are poisonous if eaten (eek!). Trim ends.
1 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. grated orange peel
beans scraped from half a vanilla bean pod (or 1 tsp. vanilla extract)
(If making a 10 inch pie, or just want more filling, use 4.5 cups of rhubarb, 1.5 cups strawberries, and 1 1/4 cup of sugar)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix the rhubarb and the strawberries with the flour, sugar, orange zest, and vanilla.
2. Pour the mixture into an unbaked pie shell (this step coincides with Step 3 of Smitten Kitchen’s dough recipe). I stopped at Step 3 because the pie shell does not need to be partially or fully baked.
3. For the top crust, I cut circles out of my second batch of dough and overlapped them to create a spiral effect instead of one piece of crust on top. Brush the top of your crust with egg yolks and then sprinkle with sugar to get a nice golden color.
4. Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 F, and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes longer (40 to 50 minutes longer if doing a 10-inch pie). Cool on a rack.
Serve warm or cool. If you choose cool or room temperature, the juices will have more time to thicken.
Bon voyage mon ami! 