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
- Have the pre-prepared tart tin handy
- Rub the butter into the flour and sugar until combined thoroughly
- Mix in the egg yolk and bring together in the bowl to form a ball
- Flour your surface and roll out the pastry dough to be bigger than your tart tin
- 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
- Prick the base of the pastry with a fork, then line with baking parchment and pop in the baking beans or dried pulses
- Rest somewhere cool for 10 minutes
- Put the oven onto 180C fan /190C conventional
- Bake in the bottom half of the oven for 16-17 minutes
- While the pastry is cooking, prepare the fruit
- Chop the rhubarb into 2cm pieces and halve the cherries (stones removed)
- Pop the prepared fruit in a saucepan with the sugar and swirl to ensure coverage
- Leave the fruit to macerate for 10 minutes (roughly until after you’ve taken out the pastry)
- Now it should be time to take the pastry shell out of the oven
- Remove the parchment and baking beans
- Return the pastry shell to the oven for three minutes
- Take out of the oven and leave to cool
- Now, add the water to the fruit and heat until simmering
- Stir occasionally while simmering until the rhubarb just starts to break up; this will be about 10 – 15 minutes
- When the rhubarb is just starting to lose its firmness, remove from the heat and stir in the apricot jam
- Leave to cool a little
- 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
- When both the filling and pastry have cooled it’s time to assemble
- Turn the oven down (or on, if you’ve already turned it off!) to 160C fan / 170C conventional
- Spoon the filling into the pastry shell and arrange the pastry shapes on top
- Return to the oven for 15 mins or until the pastry shapes are just starting to turn a golden brown
- Leave to cool slightly and enjoy warm or can be eaten completely cold
- Store in the fridge