Cherry and rhubarb tart

Hmm, what to do that would make the most of the last of the sweet late rhubarb and the first of the deep black-red cherries. This tart was a total experiment and turned out to be sublime; definitely one for the same glut of seasonal produce next year.

Notes

I used an oblong tart tin, but a typical circular tin would be just fine. From past experience, the pastry needed is the same (you may have fewer left over bits) but up the filling by 50% again.

Equipment

• Tart tin with loose bottom, lined and/or greased and floured
• Baking beans or dried pulses
• Rolling pin
• Small cutters
• Saucepan

Ingredients – pastry

• Plain flour – 250g
• Unsalted butter – 125g
• Caster sugar – 50g
• Egg yolk from a medium egg – 1

Ingredients – for the filling

• Fruit – 400g. I used 170g of rhubarb and 230g of pitted (stones removed) cherries
• Caster sugar – 50g
• Water – 50ml
• Apricot jam – 3 tablespoons

Method

1. Have the pre-prepared tart tin handy
2. Rub the butter into the flour and sugar until combined thoroughly
3. Mix in the egg yolk and bring together in the bowl to form a ball
4. Flour your surface and roll out the pastry dough to be bigger than your tart tin
5. Carefully lift the pastry on to the tin and ensure it is lifted and pushed into all corners. If anything breaks, you can just patch it up with the leftover
6. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork, then line with baking parchment and pop in the baking beans or dried pulses
7. Rest somewhere cool for 10 minutes
8. Put the oven onto 180C fan /190C conventional
9. Bake in the bottom half of the oven for 16-17 minutes
10. While the pastry is cooking, prepare the fruit
11. Chop the rhubarb into 2cm pieces and halve the cherries (stones removed)
12. Pop the prepared fruit in a saucepan with the sugar and swirl to ensure coverage
13. Leave the fruit to macerate for 10 minutes (roughly until after you’ve taken out the pastry)
14. Now it should be time to take the pastry shell out of the oven
15. Remove the parchment and baking beans
16. Return the pastry shell to the oven for three minutes
17. Take out of the oven and leave to cool
18. Now, add the water to the fruit and heat until simmering
19. Stir occasionally while simmering until the rhubarb just starts to break up; this will be about 10 – 15 minutes
20. When the rhubarb is just starting to lose its firmness, remove from the heat and stir in the apricot jam
21. Leave to cool a little
22. Roll out the left over bits of pastry and, using a small cutter, make a few pastry shapes to cover the filling. If you don’t have a cutter, make strips of pastry to zig-zag across the top of the filling
23. When both the filling and pastry have cooled it’s time to assemble
24. Turn the oven down (or on, if you’ve already turned it off!) to 160C fan / 170C conventional
25. Spoon the filling into the pastry shell and arrange the pastry shapes on top
26. Return to the oven for 15 mins or until the pastry shapes are just starting to turn a golden brown
27. Leave to cool slightly and enjoy warm or can be eaten completely cold
28. Store in the fridge

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