Rhubarb and Buttermilk Custard Pie

Fruit, cream, flake

Today’s pie is a love letter to the glorious combination of fruit and custard, which I eagerly consume in any form (see previously: ice cream, cake, bread, panna cotta). Why choose one or the other when you can have both, particularly when they play so well together?

The fruit

We are still enjoying rhubarb season here in southern Ontario so that’s what I’ve used as the fruit component here, in the form of a lightly cooked compote. Rhubarb goes from crunchy to mushy in a snap, so I cook the fruit in stages to ensure there’s still some discernable fruit chunks and textural variety.

When selecting rhubarb, look for firm, red stalks around 1/2 - 3/4” wide (thicker stalks are stringier and not as tender). If your rhubarb is a mix of red and green it will still taste wonderful, but the color will be muddier. Try subbing in 50g of raspberries or strawberries into the cooked portion of the compote for a natural color boost.

The custard

For the creamy portion of the pie, I’ve opted for a baked buttermilk custard. Set only with eggs, baked custards offer a delicate silkiness you don’t get with starch-set custards like pastry cream. Taking a cue from my buttermilk custard panna cotta, I use a mixture of buttermilk and cream for a gently twangy base that marries so well with fruit (though regular milk should also work if you can’t source buttermilk).

The trickiest part of this pie is baking the custard juuuust right. Undercooked won’t set; overcooked can have an unpleasant grainy texture and/or weep liquid. Keep the baking temperature gentle and take the custard out once the edges are set but the center still jiggles like jello; it will continue to firm up as it cools.

Putting it together

You can assemble this pie in one day or adapt a more leisurely 2-day schedule. If you do it over two days, I would break up the work as follows:

• Day 1: Make pie crust, make and chill compote

• Day 2: Roll out and blind-bake pie crust, mix and bake custard, assemble

Pies, Previously

• Blueberry pie with almond paste streusel

• Glazed peach slice

• Lemon cream hand pies

• Black bottom toasted milk banana cream pie

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Today’s rhubarb and buttermilk custard pie recipe is available below for paid subscribers. To access the recipe as well as all past recipes in the archive, consider upgrading to a paid subscription for $5/month. Thank you for supporting my work!

Rhubarb and Buttermilk Custard Pie

Makes one 9” pie / inspired by Darcie Maher and Sarah Lemanski