R's Rabarberpaj (Swedish Rhubarb Crumble)

R, the Precise Kitchen Elf, needed to bring an international dish with familial ties for a potluck in Chemistry class. That's all I knew. Here's what he made...

My paternal grandmother’s mom was from Sweden and my family loves rhubarb. Whenever it’s in season – which is a very short season here on the central coast of California – we make rhubarb everything: pie, curd, barbeque sauce, and this Swedish crumble. It’s not totally traditional; it’s my mom’s version.                                                                                                                               – R

Ingredients makes two

Pâte Brisée (for two pie crusts)

•  2-1/2 C all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1/2 C ground almonds or almond flour
• 1/2 C organic powdered sugar
• 1 C butter, very cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 T pure lemon extract
• 3 to 4 T cold water

Filling

• 9 C sliced rhubarb
• 1-1/2 C organic granulated sugar
• 2 T flour
• 2 T butter, divided
• 1 t vanilla paste
• 2 t pure lemon extract

Crumble

• 1-1/2 C flour
• 1-1/2 C rolled oats
• 2 T organic granulated sugar
• 2/3 C butter, very cold, cubed
• 4 T slivered almonds

Procedure

Pâte Brisée

Use the hand-held pastry blender or food processor to blend together the butter and flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add lemon extract and cold water 1 T at a time, until mixture just begins to clump together. If you squeeze some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and cut again. Note: too much water will make the crust tough. Once the dough comes together into a ball, halve your dough and wrap tightly each ball tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using. While the crust chills, make the filling...

Filling

In a large bowl, mix together the filling ingredients and let stand.

Crumble

Blend all the ingredients together to form a “crumb.”

Assembly

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Roll crust out between two pieces of parchment paper.

Transfer to your pie pan.

Spoon half of the filling into the crust.

Use half of the crumble on each pie and press down lightly to create a flat top. Dot with butter with 1 T on each pie.

Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 45 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing.