One year when we were on our way shopping for a barge trip, we stopped at a small patisserie. Eric ordered something to eat, and we all declined, thinking the tarts were savoury. He offered us a bite, and I am sure regrets that to this day. It was a rhubarb tart, not a celery quiche! And it was so good we all had more than one bite 😉
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Rhubarb Tart ♥
Let’s talk about rhubarb
Years ago, I had every intention of growing my own rhubarb to make this rhubarb tart. But, the leaves are highly toxic to dogs, and I could not risk mine nibbling on them. They contain high levels of oxalic acid and anthrone glycosides which means they are also inedible for humans. This vegetable can be eaten raw, but most commonly it is cooked with sugar to use in pies and crumbles. The tart taste and bright red colour is perfect for desserts. Forced and hothouse rhubarb is brighter in colour and sweeter in taste, and available earlier in the harvest season than ones grown outdoors. These will be anything from light crimson, to pink or even green. The colour in no way affects the ability to cook with the rhubarb, but any stalks damaged by frost should be avoided.
Spicing and sweeting up rhubarb
You can go heavy on the sweet factor, without affecting the fresh taste of rhubarb. Other than sugar, use maple syrup or honey. Rhubarb goes well with almonds, black pudding, cucumbers, lamb, oily fish, and pork. Spices to use include anise, cinnamon, ginger, juniper, nutmeg, rosemary, saffron and vanilla. Pair rhubarb with other fruits including mangoes, oranges, strawberries. When making desserts you can add dollops of fresh cream.
Making a rhubarb tart
For my rhubarb tart base, I decided to go gluten and refined sugar free. I like experimenting with different tart crusts, and this one worked out really well. I used a mixture of almond and coconut flours, but you can stick with just using almond flour. The sweetness came from maple syrup and coconut sugar, and I used coconut oil to bind the ingredients, together with egg yolks. The filling was a frangipane flavoured with rose water. And to emphasise that flavour profile, I used rose syrup when cooking the rhubarb. This tart took me right back to France!
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Rhubarb Tart ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
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Rhubarb Tart
Ingredients
for the crust:
- 110 g almond flour
- 23 g coconut flour
- 20 g dessicated coconut
- 15 mls maple syrup
- 14 g coconut oil
- 9 g coconut sugar
- 1 egg yolk
for the rhubarb:
- 125 mls water
- 60 g fructose
- 5 mls rose syrup
- 250 g rhubarb, divided
for the frangipane filling:
- 52 g butter
- 360 g almond flour
- 160 g fructose
- 5 mls rose water
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
Method
for the crust:
- Preheat the oven to 160° Celsius
- Place the almond flour, coconut flour, dessicated coconut, maple syrup, coconut oil, coconut sugar and egg yolk into a blender
- Blend until smooth then tip out into a loose bottomed pie tin that has been sprayed with cooking spray
- Place into the oven and bake for 15 minutes
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool
for the rhubarb:
- While the pie crust is baking, start on the syrup
- Place the water, fructose and rose syrup into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over a medium temperature, stirring until the fructose has dissolved
- Take one stalk of your rhubarb, and slice thinly, lengthwise, using a vegetable peeler and set aside
- Cut the rest of the rhubarb into 1cm thick slices and add to the syrup
- Leave to simmer for 5 minutes before removing and setting aside to cool
- Add the thinly sliced rhubarb to the syrup and cook until soft
- When soft, remove and set aside for decorating the tart
- Leave the syrup to reduce by half to use as a glaze
for the frangipane filling:
- Place the butter into a small saucepan and brown over a medium temperature
- Place the almond flour, fructose, rose water and eggs into a mixing bowl
- Add the browned butter and stir to combine
making the tart:
- Place half of the sliced rhubarb onto the bottom of the crust then top with the frangipane
- Smooth the top as best as you can, then top with the rest of the rhubarb
- Place into the oven and bake for 30 minutes
- Remove from the oven and place the tin onto a wire rack
- Brush the reduced syrup over the top of the tart, then decorate with the thinly sliced lengths
- Leave to cool completely on the wire rack in the tin, before removing and serving
See the links below for blog posts I published on July 3:
- 2022: The Auschwitz Photographer
- 2020: Baked Alaska
- 2019: June 2019 Showcasing In My Kitchen
- 2015: Win A Copy Of Low Carb Is Lekker
- 2014: Bitter Chocolate Malt Ice Cream
- 2013: Laborie Chocolate And Wine Pairing
- 2012: July 2012 Showcasing In My Kitchen
- 2011: Food Quiz Number 58 For A Friday
Tandy, your recipes are truly more original than any I know! I mean, coming from the Baltics, rhubarb is part of growing up but a crust like yours deserves top marks for health and ingenuity 🙂 ! I just love your spicing and sweeting para – had not thought of quite a few possibilities – thanks !
Thank you so much for the amazing compliment!
I thought it’s winter there? Where did you get rhubarb in winter? I love it’s naturally gluten free and the frangipane filling with rose water is for sure different.
I didn’t get the rhubarb now as it is winter! I made this in February when rhubarb was in season here 🙂 I am just way ahead of myself in terms of getting recipes ready for when we are travelling 🙂
This sounds really good! I like your crust recipe.
thank you Mimi 🙂
Beautiful tart and I love the use of almond meal and – of course – rose water!
This recipe is made for you!
I haven’t eaten rhubarb since i was a child when my grandparents used to grow it. I am not sure i liked it then :=) But your tart looks delicious!
sherry
Thank you, it really was delicious 🙂
Dang, this is just what I needed last week! I was visiting my parents and my mom is growing scads of rhubarb in the garden. I love the stuff but couldn’t think quickly enough for what to do with it. I’m saving this one fore next time.
How lucky for your mom to have this growing in her garden 🙂