Recipe: Rhubarb and Vanilla Cream Tart

My dears, when I tell you I had never cooked with rhubarb before a week ago, I’m serious.

I had always been a bit afraid of it, just thought it was one of those “what do you do with it?” ingredients. But last Sunday at the marché de Fontainebleau I saw a basket full of long pale green and pink stalks and decided to go for it. I did some research and adapted this recipe I found online. The result — a delicious Rhubarb and Custard Tart, which is pretty easy to make.

Tarte à la Rhubarbe et à la Crème Vanille (Rhubarb and Vanilla Cream Tart)

Serves 6 for a rather dainty and oh-so-summery dessert centerpiece.

Before we get started, there are three keys to this recipe:

1. Cooking each ingredient separately, then assembling them allows the textures and flavors to remain intact (and look pretty!)

2. Don’t be afraid of rhubarb or of this custardy cream. Turns out they are two of the easiest—but most impressive!—elements to feature

3. If you really want to simplify (unlike this crazy beautiful b**** on Instagram who cooks everything from scratch), just use a good quality ready-made tart dough (pâte brisée)

INGREDIENTS

For the Custard:

• 2 Eggs plus 1 Yolk

• Milk

• Heavy Cream

• 1 high quality Vanilla Bean, or good Vanilla Extract

• 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

• 2 Tbs Cornstarch

For the Rhubarb:

• 3/4 cup Rhubarb, peeled, rinsed, cut into small pieces

• 1/3 cup Orange Juice

• 1/4-1/2 cup Powdered Sugar, according to your taste

For the Tart:

• 1 disc prepared tart dough (I like pâte brisée and I don’t recommend puff pastry for this recipe)

PREPARATION

STEP ONE
Make the custard. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the milk and cream and stir. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the insides into the milk mixture. Drop the whole pod in there too (you’ll take it out later).

While that’s getting started, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs/yolk and sugar till incorporated. When the milk mixture on the stovetop is just showing signs of bubbling, remove it from the heat and slowly add it to the eggs and sugar, stirring all the while.

Once that’s all blended, tip the contents of the mixing bowl back into the saucepan and put it back on the medium-low heat. Add in the cornstarch one Tbs at a time and keep stirring and heating to thicken the cream. Keep your eye on this process as one minute it will seem nothing is happening and then you’ll see the beginnings of “the thickening.” Before anything boils or burns, take it off the heat and just let it rest, stirring occasionally and skimming off any skin that forms. Note that it will still be liquidy at this point. It will set up in the baking stage.

STEP TWO
Cook the rhubarb. On a parchment-lined sheet tray, spread the rhubarb out in one layer. Then just drizzle the OJ over the rhubarb and sprinkle the sugar. Pop that in the oven and bake just long enough that the rhubarb softens a bit but does not fall apart, about 12-15 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it cool down.

STEP THREE
Line your tart mold with your pastry and follow any pre-baking instructions if needed. I find that most prepared pastry doesn’t require a lot of pre-baking. When you’re ready, add the custard to the tart shell and bake for about 20-25 minutes (at whatever temperature your pastry package suggests, but keep an eye on it), until the custard is set but still just a wee bit jiggly. This will take longer if you use a smaller, deeper tart mold (obviously!). I prefer a more shallow profile for Summer because it comes out a lighter and daintier dessert altogether.

Note: save any leftover custard cream that didn’t go in the tart shell. You can spoon it over the finished tart later or have it with berries at breakfast. It’ll keep in the fridge for a few days.

When the custard tart is cooked, remove from the oven and let it cool. Don’t put any of this stuff in the refrigerator yet.

STEP FOUR
Once everything has had a chance to cool down to somewhere nearish room temp (generally about a half hour), use a slotted spoon to add the rhubarb on top of the custard until the whole surface is covered (I like a heavy rhubarb topping, but you do you). When the fruit is in place, glaze the top of the tart with some of the syrupy orange juice. It will have a glossy, sticky effect which is miam-miam. Yummy!

Once you’ve let it all sit for a bit in a cool place, it’s ready to serve. I like to add more of the unbaked custard (which is really like a crème anglaise), plus crushed graham crackers or slivered almonds at the last minute for a bit of cinnamon-y crunch.

Eh voilà !

If you try this tart, let me know how it goes. Even if you don’t try it, write me a note. I’d love to hear from you!