BB: BlueRhu Pie

This week's Alpha Bakers assignment makes for two recent experiences baking with rhubarb, with my use of the rhubarb variation when the assignment was cranberry upside-down cake (I couldn't find cranberries), and now a combination blueberry-rhubarb pie. Also it's a second lattice crust shortly after I made my first one for the sour cherry pie in March.

I did make things harder on myself, though, by attempting to make a smaller pie than the recipe called for. I routinely half the Alpha Bakers recipes to avoid overloading the family (though my co-workers probably wouldn't mind having more arrive in the break room on Mondays), and since this practice started back during the Heavenly Cakes bake-through, I have a supply of 6" cake pans and a springform, the right size for half of a 9" cake. The issue of a half-sized pie has only come up for black bottom pie at Thanksgiving or Christmas, and it's a 10" deep-dish pie that works well in a steep sided 8x3 tart pan. I have mini pie pans (3-4"), but nothing in the 6" size. My options were the 8x3", or a pottery 8" pan with pretty straight sides with a scallop at the top. This last is what I decided to use.

Because my pan is bigger than a half-recipe needs, I took a hybrid approach. I made the cream-cheese crust for a 9" pie with a full double-crust or a 14-strip lattice, instead of the called-for 10-strip lattice amount. That still was a bit short for the pie pan. I made 3/4 of the filling amount, and that gave me a little more than half-full pie pan. I then mashed and folded the crust down to the level of the filling, so I really did have enough pie dough after all. The combined effect is rather like a tart, so I guess it all worked out. If I'd predicted that result, I'd have turned to the tart pan collection in the first place.

Pan sizes and math for a 3/4 recipe aside, this is a pretty easy pie. All the filling ingredients macerate for a while, then are brought to a boil, simmered for a minute, then cooled completely. Dump that in the crust, deal with the lattice top (or not), then refrigerate at least 30 minutes before baking on a preheated stone.

Taste tests were conducted by me, the nephew-next-door, and my sister-in-law, with uniform thumbs-up on the pie. (The leftovers will be held in the fridge until the 2 nieces arrive home from their colleges on Wednesday.) I think we all felt it had good blueberry flavor with the rhubarb primarily serving to cut the sometimes over-the-top sweetness of a pure blueberry pie. Sister-in-law thought the bottom crust was overbaked, but I disagree--I wonder if she got a spot where the juices leaked through and formed a hard spot.