Serves 8
MY HIGHLY SCIENTIFIC FOCUS GROUP RESEARCH (READ: VERY INFORMAL SOCIAL media polling) on the subject of pie quickly revealed something shocking: when it comes to fruit pies, people really, really love crumble toppings. Like flipping the bird to glossy double crusts—impassioned responses, I’m telling you. I was surprised. I mean, what is more beloved and all-American than a double-crusted apple pie? Apparently, a crumble-topped option. You get more crunchy texture in every bite, more brown-buttery and brown sugary depth, and a nice salty-sweet finish if the crumble is done right. The bonus here is that a crumble-topped pie is so much simpler than a double crust—turns out we’ve all been overthinking pie! With a recipe like this one, you only have to roll out and crimp one crust, which saves all that bicep strength for shoveling pie into your face.
The combination of blueberries and rhubarb is a midwestern classic, and to me, exponentially more exciting than pairing rhubarb with strawberries. The sharp hit of lime and whisper of ginger here give this pie a nice little kick.
¾ cup/96 g unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
5 tablespoons/70 g unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
¼ cup/50 g granulated sugar
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 single batch My Favorite Pie Crust (here), chilled
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons/225 g granulated sugar
6 tablespoons/48 g cornstarch
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
3 cups/450 g fresh blueberries
3 cups/300 g rhubarb, cut into ½-inch/1.25 cm pieces*
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Position a rack to the lower third of the oven and preheat it to 425°F/220°C.
Prepare the crumb topping: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, butter, granulated and turbinado sugar, and salt. Mix on medium-low speed until well blended, then continue to mix until the crumble forms gravel-size pieces. Freeze until ready to use.
Prepare the crust: Roll out the dough into an 11-inch/28 cm circle. Transfer to a 9-inch/23 cm pie plate, tuck under the edges, and crimp decoratively. Combine the sugar and flour in a small bowl and set aside. Set the pie plate in the freezer and freeze for at least 15 minutes.
Prepare the filling: In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Add the blueberries, rhubarb, lime zest and juice, and melted butter. Use your hand to gently toss the mixture until the fruit is evenly coated and there are no dry pockets.
Set the frozen crust on a rimmed baking sheet. Scatter the reserved flour mixture over the bottom of the crust. Scrape in the filling and spread it out evenly. Take the crumble from the freezer and scatter evenly over the top of the pie, patting gently so the crumble stays in place.
Bake for 10 minutes at 425°F/220°C, then lower the oven temperature to 375°F/190°C. Bake for 1 hour more, or until the juices are bubbling up through the crumb topping, tenting the pie with foil at about 45 minutes into the total baking time, to prevent the topping from burning. Let cool completely before slicing and serving, at least 2 hours.
NOTE > Crust Dust! One of my favorite tricks for avoiding soggy-bottomed fruit pies is to dust the bottom with 2 teaspoons each of flour and sugar.
TIP > Seek out vintage Pyrex pie plates! I am not saying this to be precious and seem more interesting. I honestly feel the older plates perform better, and they are a true 9-inch/23 cm diameter, so my pies are loftier and crimped edges prettier. I scour thrift stores for them and have become way too adept at figuring out how old they are based on the style of Pyrex logo they have.
*If you’re using frozen rhubarb, measure the rhubarb while still frozen, then thaw it completely. Drain it in a colander, but don’t press out any excess liquid.