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Strawberry Rhubarb Turnovers, little handheld pies

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I love pie. But I have to confess, it’s never been my strong suit as a baker. My pies tend to be respectable, but… Oh.

My crusts sometimes shrink during blind-baking, and when I don’t blind bake I tend to find the bottoms insufficiently crisp. My crimping skills are so-so.

I theoretically understand how to weave a lattice-top crust, but I’ve never actually bothered to try it. [Update: I’ve actually finally become good at pie crust and making a lattice top.]

Strawberry Rhubarb Turnovers. From Blossom to Stem | www.blossomtostem.net

I like my pies best when they are at their most rustic, like a haphazardly folded galette. (Like this blueberry galette or this cherry galette.)

For some reason, I’m more at ease when I’m freed from the pie plate. Which is part of what I love about these strawberry rhubarb turnovers. (And why I also love strawberry crumb bars.)

The other parts that I love about them are the golden flaky crust, the crunchy layer of big-crystalled sugar coating the outside, and also the well-balanced, perfectly thickened (not soupy, not gloppy) strawberry rhubarb filling.

Strawberry Rhubarb Turnovers. From Blossom to Stem | www.blossomtostem.net

They’re adapted from The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie, which has recipes from Paula Haney’s excellent Chicago and Evanston pie shops.

Whereas I am a pie dilettante, Haney is a pie master.

When I want a treat at the Green City Market, the Hoosier Mama booth is the first place I go because they sell their turnovers (usually apple or cherry), which are not so big I feel like a glutton and are easy to eat while I walk around the rest of the market.

Strawberry Rhubarb Turnovers. From Blossom to Stem | www.blossomtostem.net

I’ve never seen strawberry rhubarb turnovers at the market, though. I’m not sure if Haney even makes them in that flavor. It’s not one of the turnover flavors that appears in the book.

But strawberry rhubarb pie does appear in the book.

And with a little scaling and tweaking of the method of preparation, it was easy to turn the strawberry rhubarb filling into something sturdy enough to work in a handheld pastry with a shorter baking time than a full-sized pie.

The dough is a butter and cream cheese wonder that needs some resting time but is surprisingly forgiving and is incredibly flaky.

Haney seals her turnovers completely, but I like to leave the center a little open so the filling can peak out, which leaves them looking a bit like the oversized cousins of hamantaschen.

But I like having a hint of what I’m getting into when I pick up a turnover.

These are one of may favorite things to do when strawberries and rhubarb are in season. They’re just the right amount of dessert.

And I love them.

Strawberry Rhubarb Turnovers. From Blossom to Stem | www.blossomtostem.net
Yield: 12 turnovers

Strawberry Rhubarb Turnovers

Strawberry Rhubarb Turnovers. From Blossom to Stem | www.blossomtostem.net

These strawberry rhubarb turnovers are flaky, delicate handheld pies. The cream cheese dough needs time to chill. At least 2 hours but preferably overnight (especially if you're working in a hot kitchen), so get it going ahead of time. The filling comes together quickly and gets a bake in the oven to thicken first so that it doesn't make an unholy mess of the turnovers. My favorite coarse-grained sugar to use is demerara, which has a lovely caramelly flavor, but turbinado or raw sugar is also delicious and much easier to find. If you're serious about pie, you should definitely buy Paula Haney's book and visit one of her Hoosier Mama Pie shops if you're in Chicago or Evanston. Their pie is amazing (some might say damn fine).

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

For the cream cheese dough

  • 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
  • 4 ounces (113 g) cream cheese, cold, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 4 ounces (1 stick, 113 g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon (1.5 g) kosher salt

For the strawberry rhubarb filling

  • 2 cups (227 g) rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup (55 g) strawberries, hulled and quartered
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (18 g) cornstarch
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For assembling

  • 1 egg white, beaten
  • big-crystalled sugar, such as demerara or turbinado, for sprinkling over the crust

Instructions

Make the dough

  1. Combine all of the ingredients (flour, cream cheese, butter, sugar, and salt) in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix gently with your hands until all of the butter and cream cheese is coated with flour. Pulse the mixer on and off on low speed until the butter and cream cheese look like pea-sized rubble. Put a dish towel over your mixer (seriously, do this) to prevent the flour from flying out of the bowl and mix on high speed until the dough comes together in a big chunk, about 30 seconds. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerator for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Make the filling

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine all of the ingredients (rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, salt) in a small nonreactive baking dish (a 9-inch pie plate or 8x8-square would do nicely), and stir until the fruit is coated. Bake until the fruit is soft and the mixture has begun to thicken, about 30 minutes. Open the door, pull out the rack, and give the mixture a stir halfway through the baking time to make sure all of the sugar dissolves.
  2. Let cool to room temperature. (Can be covered and refrigerated overnight as well.)

Roll out the dough

  1. Take the dough out of the refrigerator. If it has been chilling overnight you'll want to let it sit at room temperature for about 5-10 minutes or until feels pliable enough to roll out.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dust a work surface and a rolling pin with flour and roll out the dough until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 4- to 5-inch diameter circles with a round cutter (or a lid or small bowl of that diameter) and transfer the dough to the lined baking sheet. Gather up the dough scraps and reroll and cut out more circles until you've used all the dough. You should get about 12 circles (but it may vary a little depending on the diameter of your cutter). 
  3. Chill the circles of dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before filling.

Assemble and bake the turnovers

  1. Remove the circles of dough from the refrigerator. Have your filling ready and your egg whites in a small bowl. Brush egg white along the edge of each dough circle. Add 2-3 tablespoons of strawberry rhubarb filling to the middle of each circle. Lift 3 points of the circle up and pinch along each edge until they form a tri-cornered hat (after you do this once or twice it will be a cinch). You can seal them all the way to the center or leave a little space open in the center to let the filling show if you like. Place each filled and shaped turnover on a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving at least 1 inch of space between them.
  2. Freeze for at least 1 hour.
  3. Preheat oven to 400°F. Fill a small bowl with big-crystalled sugar and have your egg whites ready. Take the turnovers out of the freezer and brush the 3 sides of each turnover with egg white. Hold the turnover over the bowl of sugar with one hand and pat sugar onto each side of the turnover with your other hand. Do this to all the turnovers.
  4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the turnovers are dark golden brown. Let cool. Serve or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 296

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Julie

Saturday 5th of March 2022

Terrific recipe! Fantastic pastry. I have two recommendations: Be sure to note that the time listed for prep doesn't consider the time needed to cool the cooked fruit, and refrigerate the dough twice. And, rather than rolling dough several times to cut circles from the scraps, you can simply roll a 12" x 16" rectangle and cut it into 12 squares, 4" x 4". No re-rolling needed, and the little pies are squares with little diamond openings. Thanks for a great recipe. I'll be using it again.

Cliona Keane

Friday 9th of June 2017

These sound incredible! They'd be perfect for entertaining!

Mary

Friday 16th of June 2017

Thanks, Cliona! You're right that they're wonderful for a crowd! And they're great for a picnic where you don't want to schlep plates and silverware, too.

Elaine @ Dishes Delish

Friday 9th of June 2017

When I was growing up, we had a huge rhubarb plant in our back yard. My grandmother used to make the best rhubarb pies and strawberry-rhubarb tarts. This looks like it could rival hers!! Great recipe! Now, if only I could find rhubarb in the stores, I'd be making this soon.

Mary

Friday 16th of June 2017

We had rhubarb in the backyard when I was growing up, too. It pained me the first time I had to buy it!

Jagruti

Friday 9th of June 2017

I've never had rhubarb turnover, these looks so tempting, I might try too.

Mary

Friday 16th of June 2017

I hope you give it a try!

Jane

Friday 9th of June 2017

I can spoon the rhubarb by itself. The turnover makes it easier to eat, just my fingers. No spoon required . By the way, you can make pie making as your strongest suit. ☀️

Mary

Friday 16th of June 2017

I love that I don't need to break out forks for this dessert!

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