Indulgence!

Baking has been very low on the list of priorities this summer. The heat, the heat, the heat has kept me from turning on my oven since the end of June! But, after some much needed rain Friday afternoon, the heat seemed to yield....at least temporarily. So, on a grey, rainy, coolish Sunday morning I got in the baking mood. I threw together a Rhubarb & Strawberry Tart before heading out to the country to spend time with friends.

This tart is, as I elude to above, pure indulgence. There is little to no health benefit from this sugar, flour, butter and cream cheese concoction. Even the fruit is stewed in sugar until the original nutritional value is all but gone. Oh but it is delicious! This dessert is about enjoyment, indulgence and togetherness.....and I think there is health benefit in that!!



Rhubarb Tart
“How To Be A Domestic Goddess”, Nigella Lawson

For the filling
1kg rhubarb (untrimmed weight) *I used a mixture of rhubarb and strawberries
300g white sugar

For the pastry:
150g plain flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
85g cold unsalted butter, diced
85g cold cream cheese, diced
2-3 tablespoons cold double cream, to bind

For the cream cheese filling:
200g cream cheese
200ml double cream
2 tablespoons caster sugar
4 tablespoons muscat or rum

For the glaze:
6 tablespoons rhubarb juice, reserved from stewing

1 deep 23cm flan tin or shallow 25cm tin.

Heat the oven to 190C/375F.
Trim and cut the rhubarb into 2cm pieces, place in a shallow ovenproof dish (I use a Pyrex dish of about 20cmx30cm), pour the sugar over the rhubarb (and strawberries!)and toss it all together so that the sugar is well dispersed. Cover with foil (don’t let the rhubarb touch the foil) and cook for about 45 minutes, or until tender. When you take the rhubarb out, slip in a baking sheet. When the rhubarb is cool, strain it and reserve the juice.



Meanwhile, get on with making the pastry. Using a food processor, mix the dry ingredients, then add the butter and cheese and pulse to make a crumbly mixture. Bind with the cream, pulsing sparingly. Let the pastry rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before lining your tart tin. After you’ve rolled the pastry out and lined the tin with it, put it back in the fridge for another 20 minutes.

Remove from the fridge and line with foil. Fill the pastry case with baking beans and put on the shelf in the oven for 15 minutes. Gingerly remove the beans and foil and cook for a further 5 minutes or until it’s turning golden -brown and is cooked through. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

When you want to assemble the tart (and you can do the steps above a good day in advance – just keep the pastry case airtight), reduce about 6 tablespoons of the reserved juice to a syrup by boiling it robustly in a small saucepan. Don’t leave this unattended as the juices will become thickly syrupy within a matter of minutes.

Soften the cream cheese, then add the cream whipping until it has mixed well and thickened slightly. Take care not to over-beat – this must be voluptuous and undulating. Add the sugar and muscat (which is lovely to drink with the tart) or rum, and stir to a soft marscapone consistency, then fill the pastry case with it. Top with the poached rhubarb, then drizzle over the glaze.

I put the tart together a bit early....it seemed to stay well enough, except the edges of the tart lost their "crispiness". I think I'd wait and assemble at the last moment next time!

Happy Monday!