You won’t find any strawberries in this rhubarb pie to make it mushy and sweet. All you’ll find here is rhubarb in all its tart glory. This is a wonderful recipe from The New England Yankee Cookbook, 1939, by Imogene Wolcott.
I Tablespoon butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups rhubarb cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon flour
4 tablespoons sugar
baked pie shell
Melt the butter, add 1 cup of the sugar and rhubarb. Cook until the rhubarb is slightly softened and the sugar is melted. Add the egg yolks, slightly beaten. Mix the remaining 1/4 sugar with the flour and add to the rhubarb mixture. Cook until rhubarb is of a jelly-like consistency. Pour into baked pie shell and top with meringue made by gradually beating sugar into the egg whites until stiff peaks form. For a higher meringue, use more egg whites and sugar and add a little cream of tartar.
Pour into a baked pie crust and brown in a 300 degree oven for about 15 minutes–longer if you use more meringue. Allow to cool at room temperature and then store in refrigerator.
Read what can happen if you don’t follow the directions.
May 5, 2007 at 10:53 am |
I haven’t ever tried rhubarb meringue pie… my Mom always made rhubarb custard pie at our house. No strawberries in her recipe, either… I have always preferred it that way. I haven’t made the pie in a long while, even though I have one of the biggest happiest rhubarb plants out in my backyard. What annoys me is that every year, almost before I notice that the rhubarb is up and growing again, it shoots up those big flowers that I never used to see on grandma’s rhubarb growing up… but my aunt told me that rhubarb does bloom sometimes, and when it does the stalks aren’t supposed to be at their best flavor anymore. I don’t know. Also, I’m pretty much the only one in my family that will eat the stuff. Too bad because I have these giant thick rhubarb stalks that would probably fetch a pretty penny at a farmer’s market. Oh well.
Maybe I’ll go out and pick some today, in spite of the blooms, and see if I can get one good pie out of it this year.
May 5, 2007 at 11:53 am |
Is your rhubarb already blooming? It’s seems a bit early for that, but what do I know? I don’t think ours has ever bloomed and gone to seed, but I’ll have to ask Todd for sure. So are you going to make your mom’s custard pie?