Spring Pies: 5 Delicious Spring Pie Recipes

Spring is a great time for pie baking. At long last, there’s fresh produce at the market to showcase in your pies, like rhubarb and strawberries. We like to pair them with things we can get year round - like apples and lemon - to make a variety of treats.

In this post, we’ll look at five different Spring pie recipes:

• Rhubarb
• Strawberry Rhubarb
• Apple Rhubarb
• Lemon Custard
• Lemon Strawberry Swirl

At Whisked! we make pies a little differently than many other bakeries. Instead of baking the bottom crust and fruit together, we par-bake the bottom crust before filling it with fruit or custard. We also pre-cook our pie fillings on the stove, so the fruit is already pretty cooked before it goes in the pie shell.

Why do we do it this way? Consistency and fear. The scariest part of making a pie is that you don’t know if it will be baked properly - the fruit might be done before the bottom crust is crisp, the bottom might be burning but your fruit is still raw. Par-baking the bottom crust and pre-cooking the filling makes our pies much more consistent - we know they will come out perfectly every time.

Before we adopted this method, our pie baking days were filled with fear that something wouldn’t bake properly. Now, they’re perfect every time.

First, you’ll need to make your pie crust.

Pie Crust Recipe

Yields enough for 2 bottom crusts for a 9-inch pie, or 1 top and 1 bottom crust

Ingredients

• 10 oz (2 ¼ cups) all purpose flour
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 6 oz (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, very cold
• ½ cup ice water
• ¼ tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Instructions - Make and Par-Bake the Crust

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. With a pastry cutter or your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture until the fat is broken into pea-sized lumps.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the ice water (remove any ice cubes) and apple cider vinegar. Slowly add the liquid to the flour/butter mixture, making sure there are no dry spots. Add only enough liquid for the dough to come together (this may be a little more or a little less than the amount of water listed above).
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and split into two disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour before rolling.
4. Roll one disk into a circle ⅛ inch thick and place in pie pan. Trim and crimp the edges according to your taste. With a fork, poke holes all over the bottom of the crust. Wrap crust in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 30 minutes before baking.
5. Pre-heat your oven to 375°F.
6. Remove crust from the freezer, line crust with foil or parchment paper, and cover the foil or parchment with pie weights, dried rice, or dried beans to weigh it down.
7. Bake crust for 20-25 minutes, until the bottom crust and edges are starting to brown.
8. Remove from oven, remove the foil and weights, and lightly brush the hot crust with the beaten egg (the egg wash will set upon contact with the hot dough, sealing the crust against moisture).

Now, you’ll make your fillings and assemble your pies.

To top your pies, remove the other disk of pie dough from the refrigerator and roll into a ⅛ inch thick disk. Top the pie as desired.

How to Top Your Pie

Plain pastry top

To top a fruit pie with a plan pastry top, take the filled pie and lightly brush the pastry rim with beaten egg (this will “glue” the top crust to the bottom crust). Take the rolled dough and place on top of the pie. Trim the excess dough around the edge with a paring knife or kitchen shears. Crimp with a fork as desired. Cut slits in the top to release steam. Brush the top crust all over with beaten egg for a nice sheen.

Lattice

You can also cut your rolled crust into ¼ inch strips and weave them into a lattice pattern. Brush the top crust all over with beaten egg for a nice sheen.

Cut-Out Shapes

Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes like circles, squares, or leaves and layer them over the top of the fruit filling. Brush a little beaten egg wherever two pieces of pastry lie on top of each other, to glue them together.

Rhubarb Pie

Image via Zoe Bakes

Ingredients for filling

• 14 oz (2 cups) sugar
• 5 tbs (1.8 oz Instant Clear Jel)
• Pinch kosher salt
• 2 lbs fresh or frozen rhubarb (remove any and all leaves), sliced into ⅛ thick pieces
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• ¼ cup water

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix together the sugar, Instant Clear Jel, and salt. Mix in the rhubarb and toss until evenly coated. Mix in the vanilla, lemon juice, and water.
2. Place the rhubarb mixture in a sauce pan and heat over low heat, stirring frequently. The rhubarb will begin to soften and the mixture will thicken. If the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan, add a little more water. Cook until the rhubarb is softened and the filling is thick.
3. Next, pour the filling in a par-baked pie crust and use a spatula to evenly spread in the shell. Add the top crust and adorn/decorate as desired.
4. Bake at 375° F for an additional 30-40 minutes, until crumble is brown and the filling is bubbling. If edges of the pie start to over-brown, cover it loosely with foil.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients for filling

• 12.25 oz (1 ¾ cups) sugar
• 5 tbs (1.8 oz Instant Clear Jel)
• Pinch kosher salt
• 1 lb fresh or frozen strawberries, cleaned, hulled, and sliced into ¼ pieces
• 1 lb fresh or frozen rhubarb (remove any and all leaves), sliced into ⅛ thick pieces
• 1 tb lemon juice
• ¼ cup water

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix together the sugar, Instant Clear Jel, and salt. Mix in the strawberries and rhubarb, tossing until evenly coated. Mix in the lemon juice, and water.
2. Place the strawberry rhubarb mixture in a sauce pan and heat over low heat, stirring frequently. The fruit will begin to soften and the mixture will thicken. If the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan, add a little more water. Cook until the fruit is softened and the filling is thick.
3. Next, pour the filling in a par-baked pie crust and use a spatula to spread evenly. Add the top crust and adorn/decorate as desired.
4. Bake at 375°F for an additional 30-40 minutes, until the top is brown and the filling is bubbling. If edges of the pie start to over-brown, cover it loosely with foil.

Apple Rhubarb Pie

Image via the Floured Table

Ingredients for filling

• 12.25 oz (1 ¾ cups) sugar
• 5 tbs (1.8 oz Instant Clear Jel)
• Pinch kosher salt
• 1 lb tart baking apples (like Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and sliced into ¼ pieces
• 1 lbs fresh or frozen rhubarb (remove any and all leaves), sliced into ⅛ thick pieces
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• ¼ cup water

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix together the sugar, Instant Clear Jel, and salt. Mix in the apples and rhubarb, tossing until evenly coated. Mix in the lemon juice, and water.
2. Place the apple rhubarb mixture in a sauce pan and heat over low heat, stirring frequently. The fruit will begin to soften and the mixture will thicken. If the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan, add a little more water. Cook until the fruit is soft and the filling is thick.
3. Next, pour the filling in a par-baked pie crust and use a spatula to spread evenly. Add the top crust and adorn/decorate as desired.
4. Bake at 375° F for an additional 30-40 minutes, until crumble is brown and the filling is bubbling. If edges of the pie start to over-brown, cover it loosely with foil.

Lemon Custard Pie

Ingredients

• 12.25 oz (1 ¾ cups) sugar
• ¾ cup (3.2 oz) all purpose flour
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• 8 eggs
• 2.5 oz (6 tbs) butter, melted
• 6 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, melted butter and lemon juice. Stirring constantly, slowly pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture, until combined.
2. Pour the filling into a par-baked pie crust. Bake at 350° F for 45-60 minutes, until filling is set in the middle.

Lemon Strawberry Pie

For this pie, you swirl a strawberry compote into the lemon custard right before you bake it.

Strawberry Compote Swirl Ingredients 

• ½ cup (3.5 oz) sugar
• ½ oz (about 2 tbs) Instant Clear Jel
• Pinch kosher salt
• 10 oz strawberries, sliced
• ¼ cup water

Instructions

1. Mix together the sugar, Instant Clear Jel, and salt. Mix in the strawberries and water. Heat mixture in a small saucepan over medium heat until the mixture is thickened and the fruit has completely broken down - it will have a soft and jammy texture.
2. Remove from heat and let cool.
3. Make and fill the lemon custard pie in the recipe above. Right before baking, gently pour the compote over the lemon custard - you can use a spoon to drizzle it over, or pour in a thin stream from a pitcher.
4. Bake at 350° F for 45-60 minutes, until filling is set in the middle.

And there you have it! Five pie recipes that will keep you busy all Spring. If you don’t feel like baking and are in the DC area, check out the locations that carry our fruit pies. We also have mail order pies we ship nationwide!

About the author, Jenna Huntsberger
Originally from Eugene, Oregon, Jenna moved to DC in 2005 to work in nonprofit communications. After deciding her real passion was pastry, she founded Whisked! in 2011, selling baked goods at a local farmer's market. Today, Whisked! cookies and pies are carried in more than 100 retail locations, and have been featured in publications like the Washington Post, Washington City Paper, and NPR.