Vanilla Custard and Rhubarb Pie

Crispy pastry case, filled with rhubarb curd and sweet vanilla custard.

Its Feista Friday, and I have a lovely weekend recipe ready to bring along!

I was given some home grown rhubarb a while ago, which has been sitting in the freezer, so last weekend I decided it was time to do something exciting with it!

Rhubarb and custard is one of my favourite flavour combinations, so I thought I’d make a rhubarb and custard pie.

I was planning on roasting some rhubarb, and using it as the bottom layer of the pie, but unfortunately the frozen rhubarb did not thaw well and it had a really weird squeaky texture, so I decided to make a rhubarb curd for the bottom layer instead.

The rhubarb curd did seem to work, and it was pink when I put it into the pastry case, but for some reason it has completely lost its colour! It still tastes rhubarby though, so no harm done!

Variations: I think this would work better with a layer of roasted rhubarb at the bottom rather than the curd, so I would suggest roasting small chunks of rhubarb in the oven with some sugar, and pouring the custard over them.

You could also leave out the rhubarb and double the amount of custard for a classic custard pie!

Ingredients:

The Pastry Case:

• 250g Plain Flour
• 30g Icing Sugar
• 125g Butter
• 3-4tbsp Cold Water

The Rhubarb Curd:

• 300g Rhubarb
• 2 Egg Yolks
• 1tbsp Corn Flour
• 1tbsp Lemon Juice

The Custard:

• 1 Egg & 2 Egg Yolks
• 2tsp Vanilla Extract
• 200ml Full-Fat Milk
• 200ml Double Cream
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 40g Cornflour

To Make:

The Pastry:

Grease a 20cm pie dish, and preheat the oven to 180C

Combine the flour and icing sugar in a large bowl, then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the water, 1tbsp at a time, until the mixture comes together into a ball of dough.

Turn  out onto a floured work surface and roll out, into a circle, about 5mm thick, and large enough to fit into the tin with an overhang. Transfer the rolled out pastry into the tin  and trim off the edges.

With the excess pastry make the leaf decorations; cut small diamond shapes from the pastry and then use the knife to press groves onto the pastry, one lengthways, and then 3-4 either side diagonally to give the effect of leaves. Wet the bottom of each pastry leas, and stick onto the edge of the tins.

Blind-bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

The Rhubarb Curd:

Roast the rhubarb in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until cooked though, then blitz in a small blender, to a fine puree. Strain the juice from the puree and combine with the remaining curd ingredients.  Cook over a very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.

Spoon the thickened curd into the bottom of the blind baked pastry case, and smooth out to an even layer.

The Custard:

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cornflour, vanilla and sugar, until light and fluffy.

Put the milk and double cream into a large pan and heat until just boiling, then slowly pour over the egg mixture, whisking constantly.

Pour the mixture into the pie case, and transfer to the oven. Bake at 180C for 40-45 minutes, until the top of the tart has turned a deep golden brown colour and feels firm to the touch.

Leave to cool completely before serving, otherwise it will not hold its shape when cut!

Dust with icing sugar and slice into 8-10 servings – enjoy!