Southern Chic Love: in the kitchen: slab pie

Monday, November 19, 2012

happy monday, y’all! my family had thanksgiving dinner yesterday. i love the holidays. i look forward to them every year and i get so sad when it’s over! i love spending time with my family and trading recipes and laughs. i’ve become the dessert lady at my family dinners. the ladies on my side are some fabulous cooks…i mean like mouth-watering, gain twenty pounds, extraordinary cooks. it’s a hard name to live up to. but this recipe seems to be a hit. i’ve adapted it a couple times depending on what fruit is in season, so for thanksgiving this year, i used apples. it’s originally from the taste of home magazine. and, if you’ve never tried rhubarb, it’s worth it. it’s tart and wonderful.

raspberry rhubarb slab pie

Ingredients

3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
3/4 cup plus 1 to 2 tablespoons 2% milk
1 egg yolk
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
5 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed and drained
3 cups sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb, thawed and drained
VANILLA ICING:
1-1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 to 6 teaspoons 2% milk

Directions

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Whisk 3/4 cup milk and egg yolk; gradually add to flour mixture, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Add additional milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary.
Divide dough in half so that one portion is slightly larger than the other; wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
Roll out larger portion of dough between two large sheets of lightly floured waxed paper into an 18-in. x 13-in. rectangle. Transfer to an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of pan; trim pastry to edges of pan.
In a large bowl, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add raspberries and rhubarb; toss to coat. Spoon into pastry.
Roll out remaining dough; place over filling. Fold bottom pastry over edge of top pastry; seal with a fork. Prick top with a fork.
Bake at 375° for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack.
For icing, combine confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve a drizzling consistency; drizzle over pie. Cut pie into squares. Yield: 2 dozen.

*my personal side notes*

- it takes more than a couple tablespoons of milk to get the dough to “workable” form.

- rolling out the dough is not an easy feat. get it somewhat rectangular and then just try to manipulate it in the pan.

- when you “cut in” the butter, use a mix ‘n masher from pampered chef, or just a plain potato masher if you have one.

this stuff is crazy good. and trust me, it will be a hit wherever you decide to take it!

today we’re also featuring a few projects from some other lovely bloggers! here are a few of the simple with a big punch projects that you shared with us last week: