Caitlin Amelia’s Rhubarb and Almond Tart
Serves:This dessert is a winner every time. A rich sweet almond filling contrasts with slightly tart rhubarb in a crispy golden crust. 11 yr old Caitlin liked this dessert so much we named it after her and they are both hard to resist!
Ingredients
- 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, defrosted
- 200g approx 3 long stalks of rhubarb
- ¼ cup sugar
- scant ¼ cup water
- 1 medium apple, peeled and sliced thinly
- 50g butter
- 1/3 cup caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup ground almonds
- ¼ tsp vanilla essence
- ½ tbsp plain flour
- caster sugar for sprinkling
Method
Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a rimless baking tray. Trim the ends from the Rhubarb and roughly chop the stalks into short lengths. Place in a small saucepan with the water and ¼ cup sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer until the rhubarb is tender and a soft spreadable consistency. Around 7-10 minutes.
Make the filling. Beat the butter until light, add caster sugar and continue beating till light and fluffy. Add 1 egg, ground almonds, vanilla and flour. Mix.
Place a sheet of pastry on the greased baking tray. Brush the edges with water then spread the almond mixture over the pastry leaving a 1 cm border all the way around. Cover the almond mixture with the thinly sliced apple then spread the cooked rhubarb evenly over the top.
Take the second sheet of pastry and roll it with a rolling pin to enlarge it slightly so it will cover the tart and accommodate the filling. Place over the filling and press the edges firmly to seal. Crimp the edges with the tines of a fork.
Cut vents in the top of the pastry in a decorative pattern which will allow steam to escape during cooking. Lightly beat the remaining egg and brush over the pastry, sprinkle with caster sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden. The tart is delicious hot or cold with cream or ice-cream.
Tips
If you don’t want to use an egg for glazing the pastry, brush with milk instead. You can also make this recipe with GF pastry, use GF flour in the filling.