For a long time now, I have been hearing amazing things about the rhubarb tart by French pastry chef Philippe Conticini. This tart is supposed to be THE tart that will make you love rhubarb. It is filled with sweetly stewed rhubarb that sits atop a thin layer of almond paste, and is covered with caramelized rhubarb stripes. I love how visually appealing this rhubarb tart looks! Conticini’s recipe is quite complicated, so I have worked to simplify it while keeping the flavors and visual appeal. The result is a pretty delicious tart!
A note about rhubarb
Rhubarb is good for you! It is packed with dietary fiber, protein, vitamin C, vitamin K, B complex vitamins, calcium, potassium, manganese and magnesium. However, it is important to note that only the red stalks are eatable. The green leaves are not eatable, in fact they are actually poisonous. Usually leaves are already removed from the stalks you buy at the grocery store. However, if you buy stalks that still have their green leaves, it is very important you remove those leaves and toss them in the garbage.
For the stewed rhubarb, you can either use fresh rhubarb that you peel and slice yourself, or you can buy frozen rhubarb already peeled and sliced. However, for the topping of rhubarb stripes, you will need stalks of fresh rhubarb.
A few notes about the recipe
As mentioned before, I have simplified Conticini’s recipe. Conticini uses a special crust especially for this tart. However, his crust, though delicious, is very difficult to work with, so I decided to just use a standard sweet tart crust (the French “pate brisée”). You can view my recipe here. Alternatively, you could use a store-bought sweet pie crust.
Conticini’s rhubarb tart is filled with a layer of almond paste and a layer of sweetly stewed rhubarb. For the almond paste, I used a simplified version, as recommended in well-known French blog “C’est ma Fournée!”. For the stewed rhubarb, I used the original recipe, but with US gelatin powder and a little less sugar.
- 1 oz. almond flour
- 1 oz. powdered sugar
- 1 oz. softened butter
- 1 oz. egg (which is about 1/2 of an egg)
- 1 teaspoon imitation rum extract (optional)
- If you are not using a store-bought pie crust, prepare the tart crust and set aside.
- Start with the stewed rhubarb (you can even prepare it the day before). If using fresh rhubarb, peel the rhubarb using a vegetable peeler, and slice it. Place the rhubarb slices in a pot with the sugar and water, heat on low heat, stirring from time to time, for about 50 minutes. Note: if using frozen rhubarb, you will need to use a little bit more water (see ingredients list).
- In the meantime, pour 1 oz. cold water in a small bowl. Add 1 enveloppe gelatin powder. Mix and set aside.
- Once the stewed rhubarb is done (see picture), take it off the stove, add the gelatin and mix. Set it aside. If doing it the day before, place it in a covered container in the fridge.
- Unroll your tart crust to fit your tart pan (lined with parchment paper). Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake tart crust (with nothing on it) for 15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Next, prepare the almond paste. In a mixing bowl, mix 1 oz. softened butter with 1 oz. powdered sugar. Add 1 oz. egg (this is about 1/2 of a large egg- note: we need both egg white + yolk) and 1 oz. almond flour. You can add 1 teaspoon of imitation rum extract if you wish. Mix with a wooden spoon.
- Spread the almond paste on the crust, and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (oven already preheated). (picture is of baked almond paste).
- Take your tart with almond paste out of the oven. Pour the stewed rhubarb over the almond paste. Use a spatula to even up the filling. Set aside.
- With a knife, cut 4 rhubarb stalks in multiple horizontal stripes. Do not make the stripes too thin as they will get thinner when you bake them. See picture.
- Place the rhubarb stripes on a baking pan covered with parchment paper. Sprinkle generously with lots of granulated sugar. See picture. Bake in oven for 20 minutes at 370 degrees Fahrenheit. The stripes should become translucent.
- Place the stripes over the tart’s filling (see picture).
- With scissors, trim the edges (cut any excess rhubarb). Enjoy the tart cold.
Bon Appétit!
French Mom
