Rhubarb Pudding Pie for a rhubarb jones

Spring, actually every spring, is when this rhubarb jones hits, flattening me like a falling sequoia. Last Thursday I bought a piece of artisan rhubarb pie at a fancy pants market to quell my madness, but it was so good it only increased my longing. That night I ordered a grandmotherly rhubarb cobbler at dinner. It was so big I took half home and ate the rest the next day.

Yet the rhubarb love is still pestering me. I went to the market again and found others had the longing, because the market was sold out of local rhubarb.

Today I made this Rhubarb Pudding Pie that has its own sweet sea of lushness. The custardy pudding envelopes the tender rhubarb and lends comfort while keeping the sour pie plant from being too tart. It's a recipe I came up with a few years ago during my spring jones.

It's an old farm-style pie and it is a dandy.

Rhubarb Pudding Pie
Serves 8

It's easy to make – just mix and bake. The whipping cream and rose petals make it even prettier.

Ingredients:
1 unbaked pie crust in a 9.5” deep dish Pyrex glass pie plate

Filling:
1 cup whipping cream
6 farm egg yolks, beaten lightly
4 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 4 tablespoons warm water
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups sugar
8 16” stalks of local red rhubarb (4 cups) cut in ½” pieces
Topping:
1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup sugar
1 handful of fresh, unsprayed rose petals or pansies

Oven: 375 degrees

To make filling:
Blend the egg yolks and heavy cream with a fork.
Thoroughly mix corn starch and warm water in a small bowl until smooth. Add to the egg/cream mixture and stir gently, then mix salt and sugar in.
Add the rhubarb pieces to the egg/cream mixture. Pour filling into the unbaked pie crust.
Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Then cover pie crust edge with aluminum foil or a pie crust ring so it won’t get too brown. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes, or until filling is just set. It will wiggle a little when shaken, but it should not be liquid. Cool on a baking rack for about an hour.

To make topping:
When pie is cooled, whip the cream at high speed on a mixer, or by hand. As it thickens, add the vanilla and sugar and continue whipping the cream until it is thick.
Spread the whipped cream on top of the pie, sprinkle with rose petals and serve.

Recipe and photo (C) 2005 Alicia Comstock Arter. Use only with written permission of author.