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Rhubarb Vanilla Custard Pie

Just the most simple and flavourful way to enjoy rhubarb. It really shines in this simple custard filling, with only vanilla to bring out its perfect tart flavour.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword custard, pie, rhubarb, vanilla
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 52 minutes
Cooling Time 3 hours
Servings 8 slices

Ingredients

  • 1/2 recipe, (one disk) of my Pie Pastry recipe, see Notes below, can be made with gluten free cup for cup flour blend
  • 3 cups rhubarb cut into 1/2 inch or so pieces
  • 3 tbsp flour can use gluten free flour blend
  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar if you are using garden rhubarb, you may want to increase the sugar by another tbsp or two.
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tsp vanilla paste or extract
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Sweetened Whipped Cream

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 3 tbsp icing sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425F.

  2. Line a 9 inch pie dish with the pastry and crimp as desired. Chill in the fridge till needed, for at least 30 minutes (this can be done in advance, even the day before)

  3. Place the rhubarb in a medium sized bowl. Sprinkle the flour over the rhubarb and give it a good toss to coat the rhubarb evenly. Using a slotted spoon, remove the rhubarb and transfer it to the cooled pie shell.

    If you are using a more shallow pie dish, you may not be able to use all the prepared rhubarb. Place the remaining rhubarb in a ramekin bowl for baking. Leave the remaining flour in the bowl. Place the pie plate near the oven for easy transfer when ready.

  4. Add in the sugar, eggs, cream, vanilla and salt to the flour. Whisk until smooth. Pour this custard mixture over the rhubarb. Depending on the size of your pie plate you may not use all the custard. You can fill it almost to the top though, it will not rise all that much when baking. Any remaining custard can be poured over the rhubarb in the ramekin dish (see above)

  5. Carefully transfer the pie to the oven. Bake at 425F on the centre rack for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350F and bake until the crust is golden, and the custard is mostly set, about 45-50 minutes or so. You will find that the centre is still just a tad jiggly, but don't worry, it will set as it cools. If you wait till everything is completely set, you will find that the custard is over-baked and will crack along the outer edges. Every oven is different, so start checking after 35 minutes.

  6. Let cool on a cooling rack for at least 3 hours, to be completely set. At this point it can be chilled, see Notes. Serve with the sweetened cream.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

  1. Using a stand or hand held mixer, whip the cream on low speed for 30 seconds. Up the speed to medium and whip another 30 seconds or so. It should now be starting to thicken. Add the icing sugar by passing it through a small mesh strainer to get rid of any lumps. Add the vanilla. Now increase the speed to high and whisk until you have firm peaks. This will last in a sealed container in the fridge for a day or two as well.

  2. See blog post for more recipe details.

Recipe Notes

Here is the link to my Perfect Pie Crust recipe.
If you want to bake this with frozen rhubarb, this time, thaw the rhubarb completely. Pat the pieces dry and toss them in a little bit of flour which will soak up any excess juices as they bake up.

Once cooled, store in the refrigerator, wrapped gently.  Don't wrap too tight, or you will trap moisture, and this can cause the custard to split and affect the crust and turn it soggy.

If you find that the custard did not set, you may have removed it from the oven too early.  Or if you used frozen rhubarb, it may have released too much liquid which wasn't absorbed by the flour.  Also, if you didn't use full fat whipping cream, it also would have affected the custard integrity.

If you want to switch up the flavour, reduce the vanilla to 1 tsp and add 1 tbsp fresh grated orange zest.