Raise your hand if you’re not entirely ready for the month of June to be here…
Raises hand.
Wasn’t it just my birthday? Didn’t Roberto just leave for a 2-month work trip? When did wearing dresses even become too hot? I’m just all sorts of behind on the times here. I love summer, just as I love all seasons, but the salty sea air, the fresh fruits and veggies from the garden, the no-makeuped face because a sunkissed face looks simply perfect—these things simply give me life!
As the next 4 months of my life consist of weddings, moving, trips, showers, our wedding…I’m truly trying to chill any chance I get, to really enjoy my last few months in West Virginia and to not let the stress of planning the upcoming “I dos” AND moving to another state overwhelm me. Little by little I have been exploring this incredible state, been staying up slightly later than my normal 9pm bedtime, and just all around seizing each and every day.
As I am trying to live in the moment as much as possible, something that has been on my mind lately is when can I have a huge garden, 3 dogs, 5 chickens and maybe a pig?! We are moving to beautiful Vermont after the wedding and looking into house buying—yes, insert a freaked out yet excited face—and all I want is a big enough yard to be able to 1. Have the mowed lawn smell all around me, and 2. Learn how to really garden like my mom always has. Some of my favorite memories growing up would be when my mom was like Oh, Kate, can you go pick a few containers full of blueberries before dinner? Always yes, always, always, always.
So yes, I have been craving that lifestyle for a while now—and then I got it into my head that I had to bake with rhubarb. While strawberry rhubarb is always a yes, how about plums in place of the strawberries?! Slightly sweet, a very different texture, just needed to spice it up a little bit. I used my go-to piecrust (always a dash of cinnamon), stuffed it with a fruity, citrusy filling, and baked them into tiny, adorable little things!
While baking a normal sized pie is, of course, always welcome, I wanted to make little individual sized pies—this was much more cutesy to gift to some of my friends! They fit perfectly into itty-bitty boxes that I had, tied them up with some string, I guess you could say it is one of my favorite things!
…I will always quote The Sound of Music…
Whether you’re itching to have a garden, like me, fully embracing summer, like me, craving a flaky pie crust, like me, or just loving life and all its beauty, like me, then these Rhubarb Plum Mini Pies will make your hot and hazy June days all the more sweeter!
crust ingredients
Flour—7.5 oz, or 1 ¼ C
Brown Sugar—1 TBL
Salt—½ tsp
Cinnamon—1 ½ tsp
Butter, cold—4 oz, or 8 TBL
Milk, cold—4 oz, or ½ C
process
In a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.
Cut the butter into cubes, making sure that it keeps as cold as possible.
Add it to the flour mixture.
Using your hands or a pastry blender, rub the butter into the flour, breaking the butter up into tiny, pea or hazelnut sized pieces.
Once all of the butter has been coated in flour (basically smooshed!), slowly add in the milk, mixing as you go.
When all of the milk has been added, your dough should be slightly sticky.
Wrap in plastic and chill until you are ready to use!
filling ingredients
Rhubarb, diced—9 oz, or 2 C
Plum, diced—6 oz, or 1 C/1 medium
Sugar—4 oz, or ½ C
Brown Sugar—4 oz, or ½ C
Cornstarch—0.75 oz, or 2 TBL
Orange Juice—2 ½ TBL
Cinnamon—1 tsp
Butter, small cubes—1 oz, or 2 TBL
Eggs—1, for eggwash
process
In a large bowl, mix together the diced rhubarb, diced plum, sugars, cornstarch, OJ and cinnamon.
Reserve filling until you are ready to use.
Cut the butter into tiny cubes and set aside.
To make the pies—remove the dough from the refrigerator, and place on a floured work surface.
Roll out the dough to about ¼“ thick.
If you are using mini pie pans, use a cutter that is about ½-1“ bigger than the pan, and cut out 16 circles; you may reroll out the dough when needed.
Spray the bottom of your pie pan(s) and press the rolled out bottom crust gently, but firmly, into ever edge.
Fill the pies with enough of the filling to make a nice mound.
Eggwash the edges of the crust and place the top crust, making sure to press into the wash so that it will stick.
Crimp the edges with a fork, cut a vent in the middle of the pie with scissors or a knife, and refrigerate while you preheat the oven.
Once you have finished with all of your mini pies and they are in the fridge, preheat the oven to 425˚ F.
Brush the tops of each pie with the eggwash and sprinkle with sugar—I like to use turbinado sugar because they are bigger!
Bake in the oven for 12 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 375˚ F.
Bake for 7-10 minutes, until they are golden brown on top.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool just slightly.
Enjoy by themselves or with a yummy scoop of icecream on top!
Bon Appétit!