Plum Rhubarb Custard Pie

You know once I saw this I couldn't pass it up, right? That's how I feel about rhubarb these days. The store here in California has SO MUCH relatively cheap big red rhubarb I feel like I HAVE TO buy it, because sometimes you can go a whole summer and never get good rhubarb. So we have been a-feasting on rhubarb (I made a straight rhubarb pie last week) and I am loving it. The plums are a plenty too, so why not put the two together? I have this in the oven baking and my husband in the bed sleeping all in the same Cubby room together and life is good.

From Confessions of a Cardamom Addict: http://cardamomaddict.blogspot.com/2011/06/plum-rhubarb-custard-pie.html

Ingredients:

For the crust

2.5 C. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

2/3 C. very cold (frozen, preferably) butter

1/3 C. very cold (frozen, preferably) lard

4-6 T. ice water

For the fruit

2 C. rhubarb, chopped into 1cm pieces

3-4 firm purple/black plums, chopped into 1cm pieces

1/2 C. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

For the custard

1 1/4 C. table cream (18% cream) or milk (I used half-and-half)

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

1/2 C. sugar

1 T. cornmeal

Directions:

For the crust

1. Mix together the flour, salt and sugar. Grate in the butter and lard and then rub into the flour mixture.

2. Sprinkle in enough water so the dough comes together. Form a ball and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the fruit mixture

1. Mix all the fruit ingredients together into a saucepan. Over a medium flame, bring to a bubble, stirring occasionally, and let cook for about 10 minutes or until the rhubarb softens and the juices are thick. Take off the heat and let cool.

For the custard:

1. Add the cardamom to the cream or milk. Scald the cream, take it off the heat and let cool.

2. Beat the eggs into the sugar. Keep on beating as you dribble in the slightly cooled cream.

3. Remove about a quarter cup of the mixture and mix in the cornflour to make a slurry.

4. Rinse out and dry the saucepan in which you scalded the cream. Return the cream mixture (the one without the cornmeal) to the pan. Over a low flame, stir the custard for a few minutes. Add the slurry and keep on stirring until thick and the custard coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and let cool.

To assemble

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Roll out the pastry to fit a 10" x 2" tin. Blind bake for 20 minutes.

2. Spoon in the fruit mixture and then pour the custard over top. Level as best as you can and bake for 30 minutes. The pie is done when the custard is just set.

3. Remove from the oven and let cool thoroughly before slicing. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream, if you wish.

Notes: You can use pluots or apriums instead of plums, and omit the cardamom or substitute vanilla powder instead if you like.

Post-Edit: This was good, but you definitely have to let it set up overnight before it will be anything but runny! I think next time I make it I will omit the cardamom (it's good but the Robber didn't favor it), spice it more traditionally, and 1.5 or double the custard while appropriately reducing the fruit while cutting the custard into the fruit slightly. Sadly the rhubarb is already gone so the re-make will have to wait until next year.