King of puddingsFoodJeremy Lee’s recipe for Russian berry and rhubarb sour cream pie
Filled with gooseberry and rhubarb – or your choice of jam – this gloriously rich pud comes from Russian with love (and a dollop of sour cream)...
Many years ago, I tuned in to a telly programme of which I remember but two things. One: that restaurant reviewer Victor Lewis Smith, in a review of my cooking at the Blueprint Cafe (most flattering that I was even worthy of a review), called me “Le Ponce de la Tour”. And two: this lovely recipe for a Russian sour cream pie.
I grew up during the days of the cold war and my father had a great fascination for Russia, or the USSR as it was known then. I suppose much was revealed about the path I was taking as the newspaper headlines then abounded with punk and Soviet outrage, but I, if not in a kitchen, only ever had my nose buried in a book – often a cookbook – pretty much oblivious to current events.
Recipes interest me far more than the Kremlin ever did, although I did love Alec Guinness as George Smiley in the Beeb’s production of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
The one thing I do remember from this Soviet era is a book on Russian cooking in the Time Life series on world cuisines. It has an excellent recipe for blinis in it. Subsequently, I happened across a copy of Darra Goldstein’s book A Taste of Russia on the shelves of Quarto, my favourite bookshop in St Andrews, a stone’s throw from the 18th hole of the Royal and Ancient golf course, on the coast of Fife in eastern Scotland.
In the chapter on the classic cooking of Russia from the days of the Tsar is a recipe for sour cream pie – smetannik in Russian – described by the author as “gloriously rich”. Being a Scot brought up on cream, I agree it is very good, although I confess to swapping pecans for walnuts, as I much prefer them.
The recipe specifies raspberry jam. I like this a lot and have also subsequently tried mulberry jelly, blackberry and blackcurrant jams with equal pleasure. But I thought that a gooseberry jam, for today’s purposes, would please, as would rhubarb. When paired, the two together work very well. You can, of course, use 500g of a bought preserve, but often these commercial renditions prove too sweet. I suggest also cooking the gooseberries and rhubarb lightly beforehand.
Needless to say, the sole accompaniment required to serve alongside the warm pie is a generous bowl of sour cream.
Gooseberry and rhubarb sour cream pie
Serves 6-8
For the pastry
225g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
225g plain flour
A pinch of salt
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp ice cold water
Grated zest of 1 lemon
For the filling
600g rhubarb, the green stalks are best
600g green gooseberries
150g caster sugar
Peel and juice of 1 lemon
For the topping
440g best walnuts
400ml sour cream, plus extra to serve
3 egg yolks
1 lemon
1 tbsp milk
Sugar, for sprinkling
1 Preheat your oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Have nearby a 26cm-diameter fluted tart case with a removable base.
2 To make the pastry, put the cold, chopped butter in a bowl, add the flour and the salt and work this to a fine crumb. Add in the egg yolks, ice-cold water and grated lemon zest. Knead this until a ball of dough forms. When smooth, cut off one third and form a rough sort of disc. Wrap this and refrigerate for at least an hour. Repeat with the larger piece of pastry.
3 Should you choose the fruit option rather than the jam, then cook the fruit first. Trim the rhubarb and cut into 2.5cm lengths. Top and tail the gooseberries. Put the pieces of rhubarb in one layer in a deep-sided tray. Sprinkle over half the sugar and two or three strips of lemon peel. Tip the topped and tailed gooseberries into a similar tray in a single layer, strewing with the remaining sugar and another two or three strips of lemon peel. Juice the lemon and divide the result between the two trays. Cover the trays with tinfoil and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until just softened. Let cool.
4 Take the larger piece of chilled pastry from the refrigerator and roll out until big enough to line the tart case. Refrigerate this, as the pastry is so rich in butter it may soften should it become too warm.
5 Chop the walnuts very finely, a bit of bite remaining being welcome.
6 Now, begin the assembly. Spread the bottom of the chilled tart case with either the jam or roasted fruit, which can be dotted around randomly. Spoon over the chopped nuts. Beat the sour cream with 2 egg yolks and spread evenly over the walnuts. Roll out the lid from the remaining pastry and lay upon the filled pie.
7 Beat the remaining egg yolk with 1 tbsp of milk and brush liberally over the crust. Lightly sprinkle with sugar. Bake the tart for 40-45 minutes, or until it has coloured well. If in any doubt, another 10 minutes should allay any fears.
8 Let the pie cool thoroughly before lifting from the case. As the pastry has so much butter, worry not about any cracks and fissures – ’tis nature.
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