This is the recipe for the filling for our large Mennonite Sour Cream Rhubarb Pies:

8 Cups washed, chopped Rhubarb
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup all purpose or un-bleached hard wheat flour.
1 cup full fat sour cream (not light)

Blend the sugar, flour and sour cream into a paste in large bowl and add the chopped rhubarb. Mix until well blended. Put into unbaked pastry shell and top with crumb topping.

Bake in a 350F oven for approx. one hour. Check with a sharp knife to make sure rhubarb is soft in the middle.

Crumb topping:
1 pound flour, 1 pound brown sugar, 1/2 pound butter.
Blend with fingers to make crumb and keep any unused portion in the fridge.

9"x13" buttered pan, oven 350 F
Dry Mix:
2 cups all-purpose flour (we use unbleached hard wheat from Arva Flour Mill)
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup good cocoa (dark Dutch if possible)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda

Sift the above together into a large mixing bowl or large bowl of stand mixer.

Add to the above:
3 cups of grated,peeled carrots
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil.
4 eggs, added one at a time to running mixer
1 teaspoon of vanilla.

takes about 45 minutes to bake on center rack, make sure mix is level in pan, bang it on the counter top before putting into oven. Check the center with toothpick for doneness, should come out clean when cooked .

Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing
8 to 10 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
4 oz. butter at room temp.
1 pound bag (more or less) icing sugar, sorry, I have never measured this.
1/2 cup of cocoa
1 tablespoon of instant coffee or if using hot coffee omit instant powder.
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup (more or less) hot water or really strong good coffee

Mix cocoa, instant coffee if using, vanilla and hot coffee (or hot water if using instant coffee) and make a paste. Let this cool before adding to butter and cream cheese.
Cream the cheese with an electric mixer and add softened butter until both are well blended.
Add the cooled cocoa paste mixture to this and blend until smooth. Slowly add the icing sugar until desired consistancy.
Cake should be completely cooled before icing. And should be refrigerated after because of the cream cheese and butter in the icing.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

almost 3 quarts of fresh Ontario strawberries.
One big deep pre-baked pie shell 9 1/2 inches across.
1 1/2 cups crushed strawberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup corn starch dissolved in
3/4 cup cold water.
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 to 1 and 1/2 cups whipped cream.

In medium sauce pan over medium heat cook the crushed berries, sugar, and cornstarch which has been dissolved in the water. Mix and continue to stir and cook until it thickens. Add butter and lemon.
Put a small coating of this cooked strawberry glaze into bottom of cooked pie shell.
Add sliced fresh berries to fill the pie shell.
Cover with remaining glaze, moving a few berries to allow sauce to filter through to the bottom.
Let cool thoroughly in fridge.
Top with whipped cream and fresh berries.

Enjoy!
vc