The first of the rhubarb has made its appearance! I loooove the tartness of rhubarb, especially when paired with berries. I think I’ve said this before on here but I don’t love strawberry rhubarb – I find it’s often too cloyingly sweet. I guess it doesn’t have to be, but somehow I’m always disappointed. Raspberries are another story entirely!
This pandowdy is one of the ultimate low fuss desserts – it’s messy, jammy and unpretentious by nature – no one really cares what it looks like coming out of the oven. It’s kind of a study in artful disarray, no? Besides, I love where the filling bubbles up next to the sliced dough – it almost caramelizes when it cools and it’s DELICIOUS.
This one is totally suitable for the pandemic kitchen – use whatever you have on hand! No whole wheat? No problem, use all purpose or spelt or a gluten free blend or whatever is in your pantry. No raspberries but you have frozen blueberries? Sure!
I’m into the second week of being off dairy and eggs (if you know me even a little bit, you know the dairy sitch is DIFFICULT, ugh I’m so attached) but I had to do a little experiment to see if I felt better. Nothing really so far which is actually kind of a relief given the aforementioned statement about dairy but, eh we’ll see. That being said, I’m largely baking vegan these days out of necessity. I’m not usually a huge fan of vegan butter subs, since they’re usually made of soy or oils I don’t want to ingest a ton of, but this one I found is coconut based! It handles just like real butter in pie dough, so I’m a fan.
I will say that as written, this dough is pretty sturdy. We both found it to be less of a favorite than some of the other crusts, but still good! (I wouldn’t post it if it didn’t pass the test ;) I’m working with whole wheat flour – as opposed to whole wheat pastry flour – because pandemic. It’s been impossible to source any near me and I’m reluctant to order on amazon for just that one thing. But I did find a giant bag of whole wheat flour locally, so I’m working my way through that. Maybe I’ll join the masses & make bread! Ha.
^ha, couldn’t resist.
C and I ate this pandowdy with paleo vegan gelato (omg yum) and then this morning after a massive 7.5mi hike up Mt. Sutro & surrounding environs with a metric ton of hills. My legs are DEAD.
I hope you had a lovely Sunday and Mother’s Day!
Jammy Rhubarb & Raspberry Pandowdy with an Almond Poppyseed Crust
Rhubarb = spring! Tart, earthy & zingy pandowdy with a whole wheat crust. Great with ice cream, if you have it! Whole wheat, dairy free, refined sugar free & vegan – though as written, you can use butter or whatever you have on hand. I’m egg free/dairy free for two weeks so I used vegan butter, but there’s a pandemic so use whatever you have on hand! A Wait are those Cookies original. Yield: 1 9″ pie, serves several.
For the filling:
~5-6 largeish stalks of rhubarb, chopped into small slices
2 c raspberries (I used one bag of frozen because, cheaper)
zest + juice of one lemon
2 tbsp tapioca starch
3 tbsp maple
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp vanilla
Combine everything in a large bowl, and toss to combine. Drop the filling into a deep pie plate (mine is 9″) and set aside while you make the crust.
for the crust:
1/2 cup unsalted butter diced and chilled*
1.25 cup whole wheat pastry flour**
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-4 tablespoons ice water
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 c poppy seeds
*I used dairy free butter for this one – either works fine. I used Miyoko’s European Cultured Dairy Free stuff here and I have to say it performed just as well if you’re looking for a dairy free alternative
**sadly, because PANDEMIC, whole wheat pastry is nowhere to be found for me, so I am using straight whole wheat. You can do either, but whole wheat will yield a much more SOLID crust. Still good tho.
Combine flour, salt, and poppyseeds in a food processor and pulse briefly to mix. Add butter; process until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add vanilla & almond extracts, then ice water a tbsp at a time until the dough forms a ball – you’ll be able to tell when it’s ready! If it still looks dry, add water 1 tsp at a time. Turn the dough out a floured surface (ie marble slab, or countertop, etc) OR use two pieces of parchment paper like I do for less mess – no need to flour. Roll out the dough to be roughly circular (no need to be perfect here – pandowdies are pie’s unfussy cousin), and lift the dough onto the fruit. Tuck in the edges, leaving a rim of dough between the edge of the pie dish and the fruit – I crimped mine because I’m an overachiever and I also had extra dough, but no need to do that. Chill the assembled pandowdy for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400.
Make a few slits for steam to vent in the top of the crust, then brush the top with egg white and dust with coconut sugar (or just coconut sugar if vegan/egg free). Pop the whole beautiful thing into the oven for 40 minutes; best if you line the rack beneath with foil or a large baking sheet – the juices runneth over!
Once you hit the 40 minute mark, take the pandowdy out, and use a sharp knife to break up the crust, thus ‘dowdy-ing’ its looks. Stick the pandowdy back in the oven, and bake for another 10 minutes. Let cool completely before serving; it will be gloriously juicy and delicious so might I suggest serving it in bowls? Ice cream is… optional, sort of. You do you!
Store any leftovers (who are you) covered in the fridge, but make sure to save some for breakfast. You’ll thank me later!
Wait...are those...cookies?! 