Photography by David Schmit
It is the height of rhubarb season in Minnesota. I’ve already harvested the stalks (the leaves are poisonous) of this delectable vegetable four times from the six plants (yes – six) that Jon planted a couple of years ago and it’s only June 1st.
Unless you live in an apartment or have zero friends or neighbors, why would anyone need to purchase rhubarb? It grows like a weed and should be harvested practically daily or it will flower and bolt (and I don’t mean run away, though some would like for it to do just that). Nonetheless, I saw folks at the farmer’s market purchasing the stalks all morning. You know that it is a must good if one must purchase something that is so prolific in these parts.
Regardless, of how you get your hands on a few stalks, grab a pint of strawberries as well and make this delicious early summer treat.
Makes 8 to 10 servings
Crust
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg yolk
3 to 4 tablespoons chilled cream
Streusel
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup all purpose flour
Filling
2 1/2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, washed, dried and quartered
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon zested lemon peel
For crust:
Blend flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor for about 5 seconds. Using on/off turns, cut in butter until it is about the size of peas. Add egg yolk and 3 tablespoons of cream.
Blend just until moist clumps form, adding a titch more cream if dough seems too dry, but don’t be fooled and add too much.
After mixing the dough, turn it out onto a work surface. Using the heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute the fat. This is called, “to fraisage” in French. Gather the dough and shape the dough into a flat disk, then double wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour before using.
Note: Chilling tart or pie dough is very important, because it helps relax the gluten (protein) in the dough, making it less elastic when it is rolled out. It also firms up the fat so less flour is necessary when rolling out the dough—too much flour can make the dough tough. The longer the dough is chilled, the easier it is to roll out.
Pie dough can be stored in the refrigerator up to four days or frozen up to three months. Frozen dough should to be defrosted in the refrigerator for several hours or even overnight. If it’s still too hard to roll out, let the dough sit at room temperature until it becomes pliable.
When ready to make the tart shell, roll out the disk of dough to a 12-inch diameter. Form it into a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom to make the crust. Freeze for an hour or two. When ready to bake, pull the dough (still in the pan) out of the freezer and line the tart shell with parchment paper, add pie weights and bake for 2o minutes at 375°F. Remove weights and paper and continue baking until tart shell is golden brown.
For streusel:
Cook the butter in in a large skillet over medium heat until golden, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in almonds, sugar, and cinnamon. Add flour and stir until moist clumps form. Cool completely. (Crust and streusel can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and chill.)
For filling:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Toss the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, flour, and zested lemon peel in a bowl and gently mix together. Let stand until filling looks moist, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Spoon filling into crust. Crumble streusel evenly over the filling.
Bake until filling is bubbling and streusel is crisp and brown, about 1 hour. Cool tart on rack 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. If you want to gild the lily, add a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream.
Vanilla Pastry Cream and Fresh Berry Tart
Before all the berries are gone and we’ve all moved on to apples and pears, I thought I’d better get this recipe posted. There are many variations for tart dough and all work quite well with a few caveats. Keep your ingredients cold (even putting the flour in the freezer) and working the dough just enough for it to come together. If making dough is not your forte, feel free to use a high quality puff pastry.
Fresh berries (about 4 pints)
Pre-baked tart shell (recipe below)
½ cup apricot jam, heated and strained (if desired)
Tart Dough
For about 1 pound pastry (enough for two 8 to 9-inch tart shells)
from Semone Beck’s cookbook, “Simca’s Cuisine”. Method learned by Kathie Alex
2 cups (9 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 tablespoons cold heavy cream, beaten with 1 large egg yolk
Place dry ingredients in a bowl of a food processor and process 2 to 3 seconds. Evenly divide the butter around the bowl of the processor, carefully coating the pieces with the flour. (Just don’t cut your finger on the blade.) Pulse for 8 to 10 seconds, until butter is pea-sized. Add the beaten egg and cream mixture through the pour-spout with the processor running, just until the mixture starts to stick together. If the dough seems dry add additional cream, one teaspoon at a time.
Turn out onto a cold surface. Using the palm of your hand smear a little of the dough at a time across the counter to evenly blend together. Using a bench scrapper, bring dough together. Divide it evenly into two pieces. Form each into flat discs and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least a 1/2 hour before rolling out. Wrapped tightly, dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for a month.<
When ready to make tart, roll out one of the disks about 1 ½ inches larger than tart. Line tart pan with dough, folding over any excess and pressing against the sides of the pan. It’s okay if the dough extends about 1/4-inch above the tart pan. Return dough filled tart pan to the freezer for about ½ hour.
Preheat oven to 375°F conventional or 350°F convection. Remove tart from freezer and line with parchment paper and then pie weights. Place on a sheet pan and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove pie weights and parchment paper and continue baking until golden. Let cool completely.
When ready to assemble tart, spread the pastry cream over bottom of tart shell. Fill with seasonal berries. Brush with melted and strained apricot jam if desired and serve. Place any of the tart that happens to be remaining in the refrigerator.
Vanilla Pastry Cream
1 plump vanilla bean
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pinch kosher or sea salt
3 tablespoons (0.9 oz / 25 g) cornstarch
1 large egg
3 large egg yolks
1 ½ pints fresh strawberries or other fresh fruit
Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds out with the back of a paring knife. Add the vanilla (seeds and pod) to a medium saucepan along with the milk, 1/4 cup of the sugar, butter, and salt. Bring to a gentle boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat.
Whisk together the cornstarch and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Add the egg and yolks to the cornstarch and mix into a smooth paste.
Slowly, and in small amounts, whisk a little of the hot milk into the egg mixture.
This is called tempering the eggs, which you need to do to get them to the same temperature of the hot milk in the pan, so they won’t curdle.
Once the egg mixture is warm to the touch, pour it back into the milk in the pan.
Return the custard to the stove and bring to a boil, whisking continuously for 2 to 3 minutes.
The pastry cream will thicken almost immediately but it is important to cook out the starch (2 -3 minutes) so that it isn’t grainy and so your pastry cream won’t separate. When the pastry cream is done it will be smooth and glossy.
Strain the pastry cream into a shallow container and refrigerate until ready to use.