My family and I spent the past weekend in Savannah, relaxing hard and eating even harder. I’m not usually one for long weekend trips, preferring to really go all out a few times a year instead, but this quick getaway was actually the perfect way to shut my brain off, take a bunch of luxurious naps and drink too much alcohol during the day, but it didn’t really matter because there was always a potential nap on the horizon.
We also did some of the best eating I’ve done in recent memory. Some of the standouts included dinner at The Grey, which is not to be missed, and biscuits for breakfast at Back in the Day Bakery. Seafood was everywhere, and it was spectacular. Humble beans and rice were elevated to incomprehensible levels. But the baked goods really took the cake (pun intended).
We usually like to share one dessert after a huge meal, but we couldn’t pick just one anywhere we went! Instead, we sampled many. Peach bread pudding. Plum cobbler. Fig bakewell tart with rosemary ice cream. Pineapple-coconut cream tart. We somehow managed to make room for them all, even when we thought we couldn’t. Perseverance!
Now I’m back, and there’s no longer bacon in my vegetables or biscuits for breakfast. And I’m in the mood to bake. I was just gifted a little over a pound of rhubarb, which I cut up and froze, and it’s strawberry season. This strawberry rhubarb tart is just the thing if you also have a generous friend with a garden and too much rhubarb on her hands.
It’s been kind of a tough few weeks, but sometimes a couple of days outside your real life can really re-light a spark. I’m looking forward to wearing an apron and getting flour in my hair.
Note: If you are using frozen rhubarb, thaw it first, drain the liquid and increase the cornstarch in the recipe to 2 tablespoons
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons / 113g unsalted butter, cold
- 184g pastry flour or bleached all-purpose flour (1 1/3 cups + 4 teaspoons pastry flour / 1 1/3 cups bleached all-purpose flour)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 tablespoons / 37-52g ice water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons / 7g cider vinegar
- 1/2 large egg white, lightly beaten
- 4 cups / 454g rhubarb, preferably strawberry rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2/3 cup / 132g sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon / 9.5g cornstarch
- 2 cups (sliced) / 227g strawberries, rinsed, hulled, dried and sliced
Instructions
- First make the dough (if you're making it yourself). Divide the butter into two parts: 5 tablespoons and 3 tablespoons. Cut it all into 3/4-inch cubes and wrap each portion with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the larger amount and freeze the smaller for at least 30 minutes. Place the flour, salt and optional baking powder in a reclosable gallon-size freezer bag and freeze for at least 30 minutes.
- Place the flour mixture in a food processor with the metal blade and process for a few seconds to combine. Set the bag aside.
- Add the larger amount of butter cubes to the flour and process for about 20 seconds or until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the remaining frozen butter cubes and pulse until all of the frozen butter is the size of peas. (Toss with a fork to see it better).
- Add the lowest amount of the ice water and the vinegar and pulse 6 times. Pinch a small amount of the mixture together between your fingers. If it does not hold together, add half the remaining water and pulse 3 times. Try pinching the mixture again. If necessary, add the remaining water, pulsing 3 times to incorporate it. The mixture will be in particles and will not hold together without being pinched.
- Spoon the mixture into the plastic bag. Holding both ends of the bag opening with your fingers, knead the mixture by alternately pressing it, from the outside of the bag, with the knuckles and heels of your hands until the mixture holds together in one piece and feels slightly stretchy when pulled.
- Wrap the dough with plastic wrap, flatten it into a disc and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes, preferably overnight.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If necessary, allow it to sit for about 10 minutes or until it is soft enough to roll. Using a pastry cloth and sleeve rubbed with flour or two sheets of plastic wrap lightly sprinkled with flour, roll the dough 1/8 inch thick or less and large enough to cut into a 12-inch circle.
- Use an expandable flan ring or a cardboard template and a sharp knife as a guide to cut the circle. Transfer the dough to a 9 1/2-inch tart pan by rolling it around the rolling pin, by slipping your hands underneath it, palm sides down, and lifting it into the pan, or by folding it into quarters. Press the dough against the fluted sides of the pan. Turn down the edge about 1/4 inch so that it extends about 1/8 inch above the top of the pan. Using the back edge of a knife blade held on an angle, make decorative marks all around. Cover the pastry lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a minimum of 1 hour and a maximum of 24 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F at least 20 minutes before baking. Line the dough with parchment, pleating it as necessary to fit into the pan, or use a large cup-shaped coffee filter. Fill with rice or dried beans, making sure they are pushed up well against the sides of the liner. Place it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Lift out the parchment with the rice or beans and prick the bottom of the tart shell all over the times of a fork. Return it to the oven for 7 to 10 minutes more or until pale golden brown. Check after 3 minutes and prick again if the upper layer of dough bubbles up.
- While the crust is still warm, brush it with the egg white.
- In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the rhubarb, sugar, salt and cornstarch. Let it stand at room temperature for at least 15 minutes or until the rhubarb exudes some juice.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over moderately high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb is tender and the liquid thickened, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool without stirring.
- Pour the rhubarb into the pie shell. Arrange the strawberry slices on top in concentric circles, using the smaller slices for the center rings. Unmold the tart and serve.
Notes
Adapted from The Pie and Pastry Bible
