Me and my 4 siblings were all together for the weekend, which rarely happens since we’re spread across 4 states. We were celebrating her retirement after 20 years of teaching, my parent’s 40th anniversary, and her 60th birthday. That right there made up for any potential ruined-surprise deflation. Pretty hard to stay upset when there is so much awesomeness happening. No really, there’s not anymore. I’ve been planning my mom’s surprise retirement/birthday/anniversary party for months now and while the event itself was amazing, I’m just so glad it’s over so that I don’t have to worry about giving away the surprise anymore. I have a pretty bad track record. Once I threw a surprise party for Eric and a few hours before the event I said to him, “I have to go to the store to get stuff for your surprise party tonight” and then I caught myself and widened my eyes and slapped my hand over my mouth. He didn’t get it somehow. (??) My mom, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised in the slightest. No matter how old you get, you just can’t keep secrets from your mom. At least I never could. Oh well, it was an awesome party, if I do say so myself, and bonus! We have enough food leftover to feed the armies of 3 nations. Except that the crust burned, the rhubarb was undercooked, and it was super runny. I asked her about it and she said, “Oh did you cover the crust? Did you beat the eggs well? Did you add tapioca? Did you up the salt?” Um, NO!!! “Oops, forgot to tell you those parts. Guess it’s an excuse to make another pie!” Honestly though I can’t be mad. The first one was still pretty good, and it made me appreciate the second one–perfection–even more. This it my new favorite pie. No really. It used to be this Strawberry Glace Pie, and that one is still up there, but Rhubarb Custard Pie trumps it now. I am jumping on the family-legend-pie bandwagon because this. is. it my friends. Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram Divide the dough in half and then roll that baby out. (I swear I don’t really have wrist cankles.) Take one of the halves of dough rolled out on parchment paper and transfer it to the dish. Peel off the paper until it’s rest on the dish. From there you gently press it into the dish. Trim and form the edges. Don’t worry if you’re edges are not perfectly formed! It will still taste just as good. The most important thing is to not trim it too short so when you put the top layer of crust you can push them together. Next it’s time to make the rhubarb custard. Left is what your eggs should look like after beating the eggs. Right is what it turns into after the flour step. Don’t forget the tapioca! It’s a great thickener. I used good ol’ Kraft. After the tapioca come the spices and the chopped up rhubarb. I like to split the rhubarb stalks down the middle the long way before chopping the smaller pieces to go in the custard. After you pour the rhubarb custard mixture into crust you’re ready to add the top. Doesn’t that look beautiful! As before, use the parchment paper to your advantage as you place it on top. Seal up those edges unless you want a mess in your oven! It’s a good idea to split the crust with a knife so it can vent the steam produced by the filling while its baking. You can go for something fancy, or not. My mom gave me this pie crust cover thing a long time ago, but foil will work just fine. It prevents the outer edge from burning. And voila! You’ve got a beautiful flaky crust, the perfect complement to the sweet filling inside.
Keep your pie crust from sticking with parchment paper. Generously sprinkle flour onto a sheet of parchment paper. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, using as much flour as you need so that it doesn’t stick. Invert the parchment paper onto a 9-inch pie pan and gently peel off the paper. Arrange the pie crust and trim the edges if everything didn’t turn out evenly. Cover the edges of the crust with a pie crust cover or foil. This keeps you from getting dark brown crust edges. If you don’t don’t have a pie crust cover, take a square of aluminum foil, fold it into quarters, and cut out the middle so that when you open it you have a circle. Gently fold it onto the pie crust. Substitute cornstarch for tapioca. I prefer using tapioca as a thickener in this pie, but if you don’t have it or don’t want to use it, cornstarch will make a great substitution.
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