Pie's On

Another long hiatus! I wanted to share the strawberry rhubarb pie I made for my recent birthday. I made the crust from spelt flour, which is a recipe from Kim Boyle's insightful whole grain baking cookbook.

Spelt is a whole grain in the wheat family that was introduced to the United States in the 1890s. In the 20th century, spelt was replaced by common bread wheat in almost all areas where it was still grown. Spelt is gaining popularity with farmers because of it requires less pesticides and fertilizers due to its thick husk. Try adding a bit of spelt to brownies or cookies - I often substitute half of the all purpose flour in a recipe with a whole grain flour. Do remember that whole grain flours have less gluten forming proteins, so it can change the texture and crumb of the finished product.

I brushed the crust top with egg and large grained turbinado sugar from Trader Joe's. More to come soon...I promise a less lengthy hiatus :)