Strawberry Rhubarb Turnovers (Gluten-Free optional)

It is entirely up to you if you want to make these lovely strawberry rhubarb hand pie gluten-free or not. I used a pie crust recipe I really like and just switched it with the PC Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend to see if you can really just replace flour in a recipe with theirs. 

The Pastry

You will need 2 1/2 cups flour (I used PC Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend), 3 tsp icing sugar, 1/2 cup cold cubed butter, 1/4 cup shortening, pinch of salt, 1 beaten egg, 2 tsp lemon juice and 1/4 cup ice water.

I like to use a food processor to make my pastry. Not only is it easier it is actually a very good method for making the dough as long as you do not over mix. Use the pulse button if you are nervous about using it. 

First you want to add the butter and shortening to the flour and pulse off and on until it looks like little peas.

Add the beaten egg, lemon juice and some of the ice water. Pulse. Add more water until the flour mixture turns into a ball. 

It needs to be blended together enough that you can shape into a ball that will not break apart when you roll it out. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours.

The Filling

I made a lot of filling, too much for the turnovers but enough so I could spread it over English muffins for a treat. Yum!

Put 1 1/3 cup chopped strawberries, 1 cup diced rhubarb, 2 tsp cornstarch, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbsp water and pinch of salt into a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil and them simmer for 6-8 minutes. Cool completely.

The Turnovers

Roll out the dough on a floured surface. 

Use a large circle cutter (or a small plate as a template to trim around) to cut out the turnovers. 

Add a dollop of strawberry rhubarb filling to the right hand side of the turnover. Go around the circumference with an egg wash. You actually want to get as much filling into the turnovers as possible. Therefore, more than this. 

Fold the pastry over and roll the tines of a fork onto the top of the pastry, down to the board and then away from you. I learned that trick from Alton Brown. A much more efficient way of closing the turnovers than just pushing down with a fork.  

Slice vents along the top and if you want to make them pretty like I did for some of them, add your strawberry cut outs. Brush with an egg wash and I like to sprinkle with a coarse sugar. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes while the oven preheats to 350F. 

Bake 25-30 minutes until nice and golden brown. 

Foodie Results

I brought them over to a gaming day to share and people really enjoyed them. It is hard not to like strawberries and rhubarb wrapped in pastry, right? 

Were they as good as they would have been if I had used regular flour? No, definitely not. The extreme flakiness was not there but at the same time, it would have been tough to tell that these were gluten-free. When it comes to the taste test for gluten-free they were very impressive. For those of us who can have gluten, I did not enjoy these half as much as I would have had they been made with gluten. Delicious but they would have been so much better with regular all-purpose flour.

So far I am thinking that PC’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend will impress those on restricted diets but for me? Bring on the gluten.

More product testing to come…

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