PPB: Cherry Rhubarb Lattice Pie

I've never made a pie with rhubarb before. I think I've had it and it was pretty good, but it was so long ago that I don't remember.

Whenever I make pie, I usually make apple pie.

This weekend, I thought I should make something different.

Since I am in love with Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cream Cheese Pie Crust, I want to make a pie that use this pie crust.

So I leafed through the book.

Technically, I can make any pie with this crust, I think. But I was curious to find out what comes with the pie crust.

I found 2 interesting ones.

Cherry Rhubarb and Strawberry Rhubarb.

Which one?

Undecided, I thought "let's see what's available at the store..."

I got to the store and found both cherries and strawberries.

I picked cherries.

They looked fresher, while the strawberries looked too ripe.

Now let's get baking!

First, make the cream cheese crust.

Rose said that you can use pastry flour or unbleached AP. I like to use Arrowhead Mills Organic Pastry Flour. I tried using unbleached AP once. Didn't like it. Not as tasty as the pastry flour.

Here we have the flour, baking powder, and salt in the bowl, with cream cheese on top.

Incorporate the cream cheese until it's the size of cornmeal.

Add the butter pieces.

Combine the floured cream cheese and butter together until the butter is in chunks - some big and small. It does not have to be uniform.

Add ice water, by the tablespoon, and work on the dough until it comes together. I did not use all that water in the bowl. Probably use about 1/3 of it.

Here is the dough. Pretty, isn't it?

While the dough is resting, wash the cherries and rhubarb.

Then, my least favorite part. Pitting the cherries.

The cherries and rhubarb are then macerated with water, cornstarch, and sugar for 15 minutes. Next, bring them to a boil, while stirring constantly, and simmer for 1 minute.

They have to cool completely before we add them to the pie crust. I placed the pot in the fridge, for faster cooling.

While the filling is cooling, roll the crust. My kitchen is very warm (75 degrees), so I placed the pie crust in the freezer.

Once the filling cooled, poured it into the crust. Oops! I forgot to moisture-proof the bottom of the
crust.

Another oops! A bigger one. The filling only filled 1/2 of the crust's height. Where did the rest go? Hm... My pie plate might be too high. Shoot.

Okay not to worry. Let's proceed.

Making the lattice band.

I still have some dough leftover after the pie is latticed. Let's make some leaves to cover the sides of the crust.

Using the egg wash as glue, place the leaves cutouts on the shell border.

Not too shabby!

Bake for 30 minutes, then cover the sides with foil to prevent over-browning. Bake for another 15 minutes.

Tasting impressions:
So good! Hubby said it's one of the best pies. That means it's up there on the list with the Apple Pie and Pecan Pie. As for me, I love it too! It's the perfect pie for a summer day.