Last year I was pretty obsessed with Rhubarb. I think it was because I was at the farmers market every weekend and was so on top of what was local and in season. I made a great Rhubarb Strawberry Pudding Cake and a Country Rhubarb Cake and was pretty much in heaven. This year I haven’t been going to the market as much so I almost missed rhubarb season! Since rhubarb season is so short (and delicious) I immediately started plotting out what my next move would be. I headed to the farmer’s market but there was not a stalk of rhubarb in site. I then went over to my beloved Fiesta Farms and they had a ton of the stuff. I was golden.
I wasn’t quite sure what to make with the rhubarb at first. I thought maybe I’d do a repeat from last year but then I got the idea of doing a pie. Then the idea of a pie turned into a tart. I considered doing some sort of apple/rhubarb tart but then while at the market got swayed by the scent of strawberries. I must admit, in the last few years I’ve become a bit of a snob about only eating in-season, Ontario strawberries… they are so good compared to the imported stuff and they actually taste like berries. But the berries I saw over the weekend from California smelled pretty darn impressive and tasted that way too. So now I was back on the strawberry/rhubarb train…
I tried my usual outlets for recipe finding but didn’t quite find what I was looking for the. Most appealing recipe was this one from Epicurious. Sure, there were no strawberries, but that could be easily adjusted. After reading through the comments I made a bunch of changes including reducing the amount of sugar and making some adjustments to the streusel topping. Incidentally, I didn’t have any lemon for the filling so I used lime and it added a nice brightness to it.
Holy moly was this good! The more and more I bake I still get impressed when I take something out of the oven that looks like it came from a bakeshop. And is it just me or are tarts so much more impressive than pies? This smelled amazing while baking and looked great out of the oven. The results were great. I loved the rhubarb/strawberry filling and the crunchy streusel added a nice contrast in texture.
If you’re able to score some rhubarb I would catapult this to the top of you “to make” list.
Rhubarb and Strawberry Tart with Brown Butter Streusel
Crust
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg yolk
3 to 4 tablespoons chilled cream
Streusel
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup all purpose flour
Filling
2.5 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices rhubarb
2.5 cups sliced strawberries
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon grated lemon or lime peel
For crust:
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse for a few seconds. Add the butter and pulse until a coarse meal forms. Add in the egg yolk and 3 tablespoons of cream. Blend until the dough forms moist clumps adding more cream if necessary. Bring dough together into a ball and press the dough into a 10-inch tart pan (with removable bottom) so that crust is about 1/4 inch thick. Pierce crust with a fork and allow to chill for 2 hours.
For streusel:
Melt butter in large skillet over medium and stir until golden. Take off heat and add in almonds, sugar and cinnamon. Mix in flour and stir until moist clumps form. Allow to cool completely.
For filling:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to blend. Allow to stand until the rhubarb and strawberries release some moisture, about 15 minutes.
Bake the crust for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 350°F.
Fill crust with filling and top with streusel. Bake until the filling is bubbling and the streusel is crisp and brown, about an hour. Cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.
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WANT!!
deliciously done tart looks colourful and yummy
i’m in a rhubarb frenzy right now! huge fan of the press-in crust too – it’s getting too hot and sticky to roll out pastry!
i’m just back to report that i made this for father’s day and it was AMAZING. the press in crust was crisp and almost shortbread-ish and i loved it. i want to make this again with a peach/blueberry filling, or peach/raspberry.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Love that it is rhubarb season! Your tart looks delish, especially with the brown butter topping.
That looks totally wonderful. I love the crunchy with the soft rhubarb and the sweet with the tart!
I almost posted on the blog, but I just want to take this moment to share with us praise you. As an ordinary citizen, I really appreciate the great insight and content to gain access to your posts.
I made it this afternoon, and it is delicious. Thank you for producing such a useful blog!
Glad you enjoyed it!
[…] around (as per usual) I wanted to make something that I hadn’t made before. I’ve made tarts, and pudding cakes and country cakes so those were all out. A search for rhubarb recipes turns up […]