Midwest Made:Bluebarb and Lime Crumble Pie
Author
Published
6/25/2025
Bluebarb and Lime Crumble Pie
Serves 8
Shauna says: The combination of blueberries and rhubarb is a Midwestern classic, and to me, exponentially more exciting than pairing rhubarb with strawberries. The sharp hit of lime and whisper of ginger here give this pie a nice little kick.
TOPPING:
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. turbinado sugar
¼ tsp. fine sea salt
CRUST:
1 batch My Favorite Pie Crust (see following recipe), chilled
2 tsp. granulated sugar
2 tsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
FILLING:
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
6 Tbsp. cornstarch
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground ginger
? tsp. fine sea salt
3 cups fresh blueberries
3 cups rhubarb, cut into ½-inch pieces*
1 tsp. finely grated lime zest
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
*If you’re using frozen rhubarb, measure the rhubarb while still frozen, then thaw it completely. Drain it in a colander, but don’t press out any excess liquid.
1. Position a rack to the lower third of the oven and preheat it to 425°F.
2. Prepare the crumb topping: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, butter, granulated and turbinado sugar, and salt. Mix on medium-low speed until well blended, then continue to mix until the crumble forms gravel-size pieces. Freeze until ready to use.
3. Prepare the crust: Roll out the dough into an 11-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, tuck under the edges and crimp decoratively. Combine the sugar and flour in a small bowl and set aside. Set the pie plate in the freezer and freeze for at least 15 minutes.
4. Prepare the filling: In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, corn starch, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Add the blueberries, rhubarb, lime zest and juice, and melted butter. Use your hand to gently toss the mixture until the fruit is evenly coated and there are no dry pockets.
5. Set the frozen crust on a rimmed baking sheet. Scatter the reserved flour mixture over the bottom of the crust. Scrape in the filling and spread it out evenly. Take the crumble from the freezer and scatter evenly over the top of the pie, patting gently so the crumble stays in place.
6. Bake for 10 minutes at 425°F, then lower the oven temperature to 375°F. Bake for 1 hour more or until the juices are bubbling up through the crumb topping, tenting the pie with foil at about 45 minutes into the total baking time, to prevent the topping from burning. Let cool completely before slicing and serving, at least 2 hours.
Note: Crust dust! One of my favorite tricks for avoiding soggy-bottomed fruit pies is to dust the bottom with 2 teaspoons each of flour and sugar.
Excerpted from MIDWEST MADE: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland by Shauna Sever. Copyright ©2019. Available from Running Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.