Spiced Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie

Rhubarb and strawberry is one of the most reliable pie pairings in the dessert canon. The rhubarb’s bracing sourness gets tamed by the strawberry’s sweetness, and together they form a filling that’s neither too tart nor too sweet. This version adds a quarter teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, which sounds wrong but works wonderfully.

The spice blend lifts the pie from familiar to memorable. Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves (the typical pumpkin pie mix) carry a warmth you don’t expect in a spring pie, but they amplify rather than mask the fruit. Mace works equally well if that’s what you have on hand and is the more traditional choice for fruit pies.

A lattice top is the right call here. The fruits release significant juice as they cook, and the open weave gives steam an exit while keeping enough crust to satisfy. A solid top crust traps moisture and turns soggy from below.

Pro Tips

• Cut rhubarb into ¾-inch pieces as specified. Smaller cuts disintegrate; larger pieces stay too firm.
• Halve the strawberries rather than slicing thin. Thick pieces hold their shape during baking; thin slices vanish into the filling.
• Bake on the lower oven rack for the first 20 minutes to ensure the bottom crust crisps before the filling starts running.
• Let the pie cool at least 2 hours before slicing. Hot fruit pie filling is liquid and only sets up properly when cool.

Variations

• Add ½ cup chopped crystallized ginger for a sharper, spicier filling.
• Use mace alone instead of pumpkin pie spice for a subtler old-fashioned warmth.
• Top with a streusel crumb instead of a lattice for more textural contrast.