Rhubarb Cream Slab Pie

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

If you’re making your own crust, prepare the dough according to directions. Divide dough into two sections and refrigerate for at least one hour (this allows the gluten to relax and will reduce the amount of crust shrinkage so don’t skip this step). If you’re using a store-bought crust, skip to next step.

Place rhubarb, both sugars, flour, orange zest, salt, Cointreau (if using) and nutmeg in a bowl; toss to coat.

In a separate bowl, add eggs and cream; blend well and add to rhubarb mixture; stir to combine. Set the filling mixture aside in the refrigerator until you’re ready to fill the pie.

Take out one section of pie crust dough and on a slightly floured surface, roll out to a 13-by-16 inch rectangle; place in the bottom of a sheet pan. NOTE: you want to make sure the crust goes up the side of the pan. Refrigerate bottom crust for 5 minutes.

Remove crust and rhubarb filling from refrigerator and spread rhubarb filling evenly over bottom crust. Dot with butter pieces. Refrigerate while you get top crust rolled and ready to place.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the remaining piece of dough into a 12-by-15-inch rectangle. Drape this over the filling. Bring bottom pastry up and over top pastry. Pinch edges to seal.

Using a fork, prick top crust all over, or if you’re fancy, cut a design in the top. Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with raw sugar. Refrigerate the entire pie for 5 minutes before baking – you want your crust to be cold when you place it in the oven – this helps create a nice, flaky crust.

To prevent over-browning, loosely cover the pie with foil and bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes; remove foil and bake for another 30 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbling – mine actually took about an hour and 10 minutes to fully bake. You can always loosely place foil over pie if it is browning too much.

Transfer to a wire rack until just warm to the touch, about 45 minutes.

Serve warm or room temperature.