Recipe #3: Rhubarb Pie with Lattice Crust

Since I began dabbling in the kitchen, I've found the nuances of pastry to appeal to the more regimented side of my personality. I enjoy following recipes. I find security in measurements, safety in the calibrations on my scale as opposed to adding a pinch of this or eyeballing a tablespoon of that. That was until I was gifted Michael Ruhlman's Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking (thank you Fensters!), which really opened my eyes to the whimsical, yet safe, nature of baking. Ruhlman deduces pies, biscuits, breads and cakes into easy-to-remember ratios. His 3-2-1 (3 parts flour to 2 parts fat to 1 part water) pie crust is showcased here. In baking you have to follow a certain set of rules, but after you know these rules you can break, manipulate and skew them to your liking. Proving that you don't need a recipe to bake, but actually more of an imagination.

Rhubarb Pie with Lattice Crust

Makes 1 nine inch pie

For 3-2-1 Pie Dough (Pâte Sucrée):

15 ounces flour
10 ounces butter
5 ounces water (ice water)
3 tbsp sugar

Combine ingredients, cover and refrigerate. Roll out a large circle and lay the dough over the pie plate. Cut the surplus of dough, leaving only 1 inch hanging over the plate. The rest of dough will be used to make strips for the lattice crust.


For Rhubarb filling:

12 ounces sugar
1½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp orange zest
1/3 cup cornstarch
1½ pounds rhubarb (diced)

Place sugar, spices, zest and cornstarch in a bowl and stir to combine. Add the diced rhubarb and toss until rhubarb is thoroughly combined with the sugar mixture. Pour mixture into the pie base.

For Lattice crust:

Cut ¾-inch-wide strips from the remaining dough, approximately the length of the pie plate. Place five strips horizontally across the plate, evenly spaced. Fold the first, third and fifth strips back on themselves. Position your first vertical strip beside the horizontal strips you just pulled back. Straighten out the strips and pull the second and fourth strip back to where you positioned the first vertical strip. Lay the second vertical strip (equal distance from the first) and lengthen out the second and fourth horizontal strips. Continue until the whole pie is covered. Trim any extra dough and (with your thumb and forefinger) pinch together the strips and dough along the circumference of the pie dish.

Bake at 425 for 1 to 1¼ hours or until fruit is bubbling and crust is golden brown.