I love rhubarb. It’s the perfect low carb sweet because it’s a vegetable that’s used as a fruit but has no where near as many carbs or natural sugars. It’s always used in combination with a fruit, but I don’t think it always has to be. If treated right, it can be delish on its own. I’ll have some recipes that feature it in the future, but for now I have it with cherries because I love cherries, and this is a great way for me to have them in a low carb treat. As you’ll see this recipe uses ⅔ rhubarb and ⅓ cherries, so the carbs stay low, but the taste is scrumptious. The crust is flavorful and flakey; a bit of a challenge to work with but well worth it. If you’re a strawberry lover, you can switch it with the cherries one for one or you can go with all rhubarb if you want. Just use 48oz rhubarb, leave out the lemon juice and sweeten to taste, it’s great on its own.
Ingredients:
Pie filling
16oz cherries, fresh or frozen, cut in half
32oz rhubarb, fresh or frozen, cut into cherry sized pieces
½ cup Erythritol (to taste), plus 1 tsp
2-3 Tbsp lemon juice (to taste)
¼ tsp salt
3 Tbsp tapioca flour
Crust
2½ cups Carbquick
6oz butter or shortening, or half and half
⅛ cup Vodka
⅛ cup ice water
pinch of salt
Directions:
Crust:
1) Blend the fat and the Carbquick together until it looks like coarse crumbs. Add salt.
2) Mix Vodka and ice water together; sprinkle into Carbquick mixture a little at a time. (you probably won’t need all of it) Combine using only as many strokes as needed for the dough to just come together. Gently gather the dough into a smooth ball. Divide into two pieces and flatten into disks. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerated for at least 2 -12 hours. This process is necessary for the Carbquick to have time to absorb moisture and for the gluten to relax. (Dough will keep for 2-3 days in fridge or 1-3 months in the freezer).
Filling:
1) Place rhubarb in a lidded container. Mix in pinch of salt and ¼ cup sweetener. Microwave for 2 to 5 min or until softened, but not fully cooked. Taste and add additional sweetener as desired. Cover and place in fridge for at least 2 hours to macerate.
2) Place cherries in a lidded container. Mix in pinch of salt, 2 Tbsp. lemon juice and ¼ cup sweetener. Taste and add additional sweetener and/or lemon juice as desired. Cover and place in fridge for at least 2 hours to macerate.
3) Remove rhubarb and cherries from the fridge and drain off liquid into separate pots. Cook each liquid down by at least half. Flavor should be intensified. Let cool slightly and mix back into rhubarb and cherries. Return each to fridge for an additional hour.
4) Remove rhubarb, cherries and dough from fridge. Mix the rhubarb and cherries together and mix in tapioca flour until well combined; set aside.
5) Place one dough disk between plastic wrap and roll out until ¼ inch thick or until it’s slightly larger than your pie plate.
6) Keeping the plastic wrap on the bottom side of dough, lift and gently place in pie pan. Press dough into the edges and press a raised edge around the lip to use with the top crust. Peel away plastic wrap gently. You will probably have some rips or wholes; the dough is very fragile. Don’t worry if you do, just take any trimmings to patch where needed.
7) Preheat oven to 350° F. Roll out second piece of dough. Pour rhubarb and cherry mixture into pie shell and gently place top crust on. Very gently squeeze the top and bottom crusts together and trim any excess. Again, you will have wholes and small rips. Don’t worry about them unless they are very big. If they are, patch them as best you can. Cut four 1" slits in the top crust to vent steam.
8) Mix 1 egg with a little water to make an egg wash and brush the top crust using a pastry brush. Sprinkle 1 tsp sweetener, using fingers, all over the top crust. Place on foil lined sheet pan and bake for 35 to 45 min, or until the crust is golden brown and delicious. Cool on a rack for at least 4 hours. The filling needs that time to firm up. If you cut into it too soon, it will be very runny and not hold together. Once it’s cooled, slice and enjoy; it’s great with a scoop of low carb vanilla ice cream!
Nutritional Info: Servings Per Recipe: 16
Amount Per Serving: (1 slice)
Calories: 150.7
Total Fat: 11.6 g
Cholesterol: 23.3 mg
Sodium: 148.3 mg
Total Carbs: 21.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 14.8 g
Total Net Carbs: 6.9 g
Protein: 3.6 g
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