Over the Mother’s Day weekend, I paid a surprise visit to my Mum as well as delivering treats a few family friend mothers (not my mum, but people who I have know since childhood). With one of them, I have a running joke about rhubarb, so I had to make a fancy pants rhubarb curd tart. Actually it was really easy and it turned out really nicely.
Ingredients
For the crust
1 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup mild olive oil
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
For the filling
4 long stalks rhubarb (about 3/4 pound)
3 large eggs
3/4 cup unsalted butter cubed
3 teaspoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
To garnish
fresh raspberries
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 325F.
In a mixing bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. Stirring enables the salt and sugar to sift the flour, so you don’t need to sift it in advance. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, milk and almond extract. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and mix gently with a fork, just enough to dampen; do not over work it.
Transfer the dough to an 11-inch tart pan (you can use a smaller one if needed), and use your hands to pat out the dough so it covers the bottom of the pan, pushing it up the sides to meet the edge. This will work if you pat firmly and confidently, but not if you curl your fingertips into the dough. It should be about 1/ 8-inch thick all around; trim and discard excess dough. Let chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Remove crust from the refrigerator, line with foil and pie weights. Bake for 30-35 minutes, then remove the foil and weights and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until golden brown.
While the crust is baking, prepare the curd: cut rhubarb stalks in 2″ sections, put them in the bowl of a food processor and process until then turn into a pulp. Push it through a fine sieve with a spoon to extract all the juice, then discard the pulp. You should get 1 1/4 cup of rhubarb juice. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and corn starch until you have a homogeneous mixture with no lumps remaining. Alternatively, you can do this step in a blender.
In a saucepan combine 1 cup of rhubarb juice, egg, sugar and corn starch mixture and cubed butter, set the pan over low heat and star cooking it while stirring with a whisk the entire time until butter melts and the curd thickens. Do not turn the heat up to speed up the process or the eggs will turn into scrambled eggs. Take off the heat when the curd is the consistency of thick sour cream. Push it through a fine sieve again to ensure there are no lumps and the curd is silky smooth. Add the remaining rhubarb juice to increase the tart flavor of the rhubarb.
When the pastry is ready, take it out of the oven and carefully pour the curd onto the base; return the pan to the oven. Bake until topping is just set, 10 to 15 minutes more. Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold. About an hour before you are ready to serve, take the tart from the refrigerator and garnish with the raspberries.
