I LOVE rhubarb. It truly is one of my favourite fruits, but it obviously needs quite a lot of sugar to balance out the sharpness before it can be eaten. As a type 1 diabetic, that causes me some issues as I prefer not to add a lot of added sugar to my food, so I’ve been looking for other options.

I came across a recipe for a rhubarb pie served with strawberries. I tested this a couple of times and managed to cut down the amount of added sugar in the recipe by taking advantage of the natural sweetness of the strawberries to balance out the bitterness of the rhubarb. This version is perfect for me!

The recipe I used to adapt it from is in american cups, which is not my preferred method of measurement – but it’s fairly impossible to convert it to grams as it differs so much per ingredient, so have kept it as is.

I used pre-made pastry for this to save time, but this would obviously be lovely with homemade pastry. I prefer to use a lattice roller to create a lattice effect on top of my pies because a) it’s super easy and makes the pie look nice and b) because it uses less pastry, which means less carbohydrates per portion! Always thinking about those blood sugars.

Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Ingredients

• 300g shortcrust pastry

For the filling:

• 2 cups sliced rhubarb
• 3 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cornflour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp milk

Instructions

1. Stir the filling ingredients together and set aside. Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180.
2. Roll out two thirds of the pastry to 1cm thickness and line a 9 inch pie tin.
3. Spoon the filling into the dish and top with the chopped butter. Keep it as dry as possible and di not include any excess liquid.
4. Roll the remaining pastry to the same size and using a lattice roller, make a lattice pattern across the top. (If you do not have a lattice roller, you can also achieve this look by cutting out strips of pastry and manually latticing them together on the pie. Or you can just forget all that and cover the pie with a pastry circle). Lay the pastry on top of the pie, trim the edges and crimp or fold in to seal.
5. Mix the egg and milk together and brush the top of the pie to glaze.
6. Bake for 20 mins. Turn the temperature down to 170c/fan150c and bake for a further 30 mins. If the pastry is turning brown too quickly, top with tin foil.
7. Cool the pie for a while before serving to allow the filling to thicken slightly and serve with custard.